A former head of Venezuela’s military intelligence has pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and narcoterrorism charges just one week before his trial was set to begin in a United States federal court. Hugo Carvajal, a close aide to the country’s former President Hugo Chavez, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to four criminal counts, including narcoterrorism conspiracy and conspiracy to import cocaine and weapons. Carvajal, who is now 65 years old, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for October.
Carvajal, also known as “El Pollo,” and a man who was an advisor to Chavez for over a decade, is considered one of the most powerful figures of the socialist leader’s rule. However, the spymaster later broke with current President Nicolas Maduro to support the US-backed political opposition. In 2023, Carvajal was extradited from Spain after being on the run from US law enforcement for more than a decade.
During the Wednesday news, Jay Clayton, the interim US attorney in Manhattan, said in a statement that there are powerful foreign government officials who conspire to flood the United States with drugs.
Source: https://www.dw.com/en/former-venezuela-spymaster-pleads-guilty-to-us-narcoterrorism-charges/a-73043327?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf
