Washington: Hugo Carvajal, the former head of Venezuela's military intelligence under the late Hugo Chavez, has reportedly been extradited from Spain to the US, according to his attorney.
According to attorney Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma, Carvajal arrived in the country on Wednesday and is scheduled to make his court debut on Thursday in Manhattan.
The US Attorney's office in Manhattan, which filed the charges against the 63-year-old, has additionally confirmed the extradition to Reuters.
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Carvajal, who oversaw Venezuela's military intelligence from 2004 to 2011 and again from 2013 to 2014, is suspected by New York prosecutors of using his position to aid drug trafficking by the now-defeated FARC guerrilla group in Colombia. They assert that Carvajal organized the shipment of 5,600kg (1,235lbs) of cocaine to Mexico in 2006, with the US serving as the drug's ultimate destination. The former head of the spy agency has categorically denied any connections to the FARC or drug trafficking.
Following last week's rejection of his final attempt to evade extradition to the US by the European Court of Human Rights, a Spanish court ordered Carvajal's immediate extradition on Tuesday. The defense's claims that the former spy chief faces a "real risk" of being given a life sentence without the possibility of parole in America could not be supported, according to judges in Strasbourg.
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After urging the military to turn against President Nicolas Maduro during an unsuccessful attempt to seize power by US-backed opposition leader Juan Guaido, Carvajal left Venezuela in 2019. He is sought after in his home nation on a number of counts, including treason and supporting terrorism.
The former spy chief was initially detained in Spain in 2019 but managed to avoid extradition to the US after a court ruled that the American request to hand him over was "politically motivated." Carvajal may also be of interest to the US due to his alleged possession of incriminating evidence against Maduro, who is a fierce rival of Washington.
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Judges later changed their minds, but Carvajal fled and wasn't apprehended again until September 2021. He continued to live in Spain during that time, according to police, frequently changing addresses and even getting plastic surgery to hide his identity.