Former Venezuelan intelligence chief Hugo ‘El Pollo’ Carvajal arrives in the US extradited from Spain

The United States government confirmed that the former head of Venezuelan military intelligence, Hugo ‘El Pollo’ Carvajal, was extradited Wednesday from Spainwhere he had been under arrest since 2021.

Since 2020, Carvajal, 63, has been accused by the US justice system of “conspiracy for narcoterrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States and crimes related to firearms,” ​​said a statement from the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York released Wednesday afternoon.

“After many years on the run, after a criminal career that spanned more than a decade, Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios has arrived in the United States today where he will face justice for the crimes of which he is accused,” said the prosecutor. federal, Damian Williams, quoted in the release.

Anne Milgram, administrator of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), assured that government officials “corrupt like Carvajal”, who use their position to “accept bribes” and other activities related to drug trafficking , “must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

Carvajal and other high-ranking officials acted as “leaders and administrators of the Cartel de los Soles,” so called because of the insignia that adorn the uniforms of high-ranking Venezuelan officials, the text reports.

“Carvajal Barrios and other members of the cartel abused the Venezuelan people and corrupted Venezuela’s legitimate institutions, including parts of the military, intelligence, legislative, and judicial apparatus, to facilitate the importation of cocaine into the United States,” it continues.

In addition, it states that the cartel not only sought to enrich itself and increase its power, but also to “flood” the United States with said drug.

“To achieve these objectives, the leaders of the Cartel de los Soles associated with the leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which controlled cocaine production in vast areas of Colombia and Venezuela,” the text continues.

Drug trafficking from his position

Also, between 2004 and 2011, while he was director of the extinct Directorate of Military Intelligence (DIM) – now General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM) – Carvajal “took advantage” of the position to also traffic narcotics and “support his drug-trafficking associates.” according to US authorities.

The statement states that, in 2006, Carvajal Barrios “coordinated with other members of the Cartel de los Soles” to dispatch a 5.6-ton shipment of cocaine from Venezuela in a private US plane that landed in Mexico, where the authorities seized of the cargo.

In addition, he stresses that in 2008 he participated in a meeting with a FARC representative in which it was agreed that the Cartel de los Soles would provide money and weapons to that guerrilla group, “in exchange for greater cocaine production.”

Some of the crimes for which the former Venezuelan official is accused carry mandatory minimum sentences of between 10 and 30 years in prison and maximum sentences of life imprisonment.

The prosecution is handled by the International Narcotics Unit and the Office of Homeland Security.

Jason Richman, Kaylan Lasky and Kyle Wirshba are the assistant US attorneys in charge of the prosecution, assisted by trial attorney Kevin Nunnally of the Counterterrorism Section.

In September 2021, the Attorney General of Venezuela, Tarek William Saab, announced that the prosecution asked Spain the extradition of Carvajal for his alleged involvement in an operation to attempt the life of President Nicolás Maduro, from whom the former Venezuelan intelligence chief distanced himself in 2019 when he recognized Juan Guaidó as interim president.

On Wednesday, Jorge Rodríguez, president of the National Assembly with an official majority, said he hoped that the United States would hand Carvajal over to Venezuela.