Venezuelan official Alex Saab, a Colombian-Venezuelan businessman and ally of former President Nicolas Maduro, was deported to the United States, Venezuela's migration agency, SAIME, said on Saturday.
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro and Colombian businessman Alex Saab attend an event, in Caracas, Venezuela January 23, 2024. Reuters/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria
Venezuelan official Alex Saab, a Colombian-Venezuelan businessman and ally of former President Nicolas Maduro, was deported to the United States, Venezuela's migration agency, SAIME, said on Saturday.
Saab was arrested in Caracas in February during a joint operation by U.S. and Venezuelan authorities, according to a U.S. law enforcement official at the time.
Saab's arrest occurred a month after Maduro's own capture by U.S. special forces in Caracas. The arrest and deportation of Saab suggested a new level of collaboration between U.S. and Venezuelan law enforcement under acting President Delcy Rodriguez, Maduro's former vice president.
The Colombian-born Saab, 54, was previously detained in Cape Verde in 2020 and held in the U.S. on bribery charges. He was granted clemency in 2023 in exchange for the release of Americans detained in Venezuela.
Saab could provide U.S. authorities with information to strengthen their criminal case against Maduro, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were taken to New York in January to face criminal charges, including conspiracy to commit narcoterrorism. They deny the charges.
Saab and his wife lived in Italy several years ago. Luigi Giuliano, a lawyer in Italy who has represented him, said on Saturday he does not handle Saab's U.S. cases and could not confirm the deportation. Another lawyer for Saab did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Editing by Rod Nickel and Matthew Lewis)
Thousands of people gathered in front of a church in Belgrade to pay respects to former Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic who died last week while serving a life sentence for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) surged into first place in state elections in Saxony-Anhalt on Sunday, exit polls showed, putting a far-right party on the cusp of power at state level for the first time since World War Two.
U.S. peace envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv on Sunday as the Trump administration renewed its push to end Russia's four-and-a-half-year war in Ukraine.
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.
