Former Venezuela spymaster pleads guilty to narcoterrorism charge ahead of trial

Source: Associated Press

Former Venezuela spymaster pleads guilty to narcoterrorism charge ahead of trial

By JOSHUA GOODMAN
Updated 7:40 PM EDT, June 25, 2025

MIAMI (AP) — A former Venezuelan spymaster who was close to the country’s late President Hugo Chávez pleaded guilty Wednesday to drug trafficking charges a week before his trial was set to begin in a Manhattan federal court.

Retired Maj. Gen. Hugo Carvajal was extradited from Spain in 2023 after more than a decade on the run from U.S. law enforcement, including a botched arrest in Aruba while he was serving as a diplomat representing current Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s government.

Carvajal pleaded guilty in court to all four criminal counts, including narco-terrorism, in an indictment accusing him of leading a cartel made up of senior Venezuelan military officers that attempted to “flood” the U.S. with cocaine in cahoots with leftist guerrillas from neighboring Colombia.

In a letter this week to defense counsel, prosecutors said they believe federal sentencing guidelines call for the 65-year-old Carvajal to serve a mandatory minimum of 50 years in prison.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-spymaster-guilty-plea-carvajal-e271dc4be0ba8abc69da82315ec62b68