A former general was arrested.
- General Hugo Armando Carvajal, the former Venezuelan military chief, was arrested in Spain.
- He is wanted by the United States for drug trafficking.
- He was stripped of his post by the government of President Nicolas Maduro.
Spanish police said on Thursday that they had arrested General Hugo Armando Carvajal, the former Venezuelan military intelligence chief, who was wanted by the United States on drug charges.
The Spanish National Police said in a tweet that Carvajal had served as an intelligence director under the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez and was detained in Madrid on Thursday night.
“He is completely isolated from the world, he does not go out or look out the window, and is always protected by a trusted person,” it added along with a short video showing the arrest of Carvajal by police officers wearing protective gear.
Carvajal disappeared a few days after the Spanish court granted his extradition request to the United States in November 2019.
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At that time, the police had gone to his home in Madrid to arrest him, but he could not be found. His lawyer denied knowing where he was.
Known as “El Pollo” (chicken), Carvajal was stripped of his position by the government of President Nicolas Maduro after supporting Juan Guaido as acting president of Venezuela in February.
Provide support for drug trafficking
Then he fled by boat to the Dominican Republic and then moved to Spain.
Carvajal has long been pursued by U.S. Treasury officials who suspect that he is supporting the drug trafficking activities of the FARC guerrillas.
In an indictment filed in New York in 2011, Carvajal was accused of coordinating the shipment of more than 5.6 tons of cocaine from Venezuela to Mexico in 2006, which was eventually shipped to the United States.
The grand jury also accused Carvajal of providing “fully armed security measures to protect these drug shipments” on the way to the United States.
After being arrested in April, the U.S. Department of Justice stated that Carvajal could face 10 years to life imprisonment if convicted.
Carvajal denied any connection with drug trafficking and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.
In September 2019, the Spanish National Court rejected the U.S. extradition request on the grounds of “ambiguity” and “politically motivated”. Instead, it ordered the release of Carvajal, who has been arrested in Madrid on April 12th. Temporary detention facility in custody.
The ruling aroused protests from the U.S. State Department, which expressed its hope that judges would “reconsider” their decision.
The court overturned the decision in November after accepting an appeal from the prosecutor’s office, but Carvajal continued to flee.
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