Maduro and Other High Ranking Venezuelan Officials Allegedly
Partnered With the FARC to Use Cocaine as a Weapon to “Flood” the United States
Fomer President of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro Moros,
Venezuela’s vice president for the economy, Venezuela’s Minister of Defense,
and Venezuela’s Chief Supreme Court Justice are among those charged in New York
City; Washington, DC; and Miami, along with current and former Venezuelan
government officials as well as two Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia
(FARC) leaders, announced U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr, U.S. Attorney
Geoffrey S. Berman of the Southern District of New York, U.S. Attorney Ariana
Fajardo Orshan of the Southern District of Florida, Assistant Attorney General
Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting
Administrator Uttam Dhillon of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
and Acting Executive Associate Director Alysa D. Erichs of U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
“The Venezuelan regime, once led by Nicolás Maduro Moros,
remains plagued by criminality and corruption,” said Attorney General
Barr. “For more than 20 years, Maduro
and a number of high-ranking colleagues allegedly conspired with the FARC, causing
tons of cocaine to enter and devastate American communities. Today’s announcement is focused on rooting
out the extensive corruption within the Venezuelan government – a system
constructed and controlled to enrich those at the highest levels of the government. The United States will not allow these
corrupt Venezuelan officials to use the U.S. banking system to move their
illicit proceeds from South America nor further their criminal schemes.”
“Today we announce criminal charges against Nicolás Maduro
Moros for running, together with his top lieutenants, a narco-terrorism
partnership with the FARC for the past 20 years,” said U.S. Attorney Geoffrey
S. Berman. “The scope and magnitude of
the drug trafficking alleged was made possible only because Maduro and others
corrupted the institutions of Venezuela and provided political and military
protection for the rampant narco-terrorism crimes described in our
charges. As alleged, Maduro and the
other defendants expressly intended to flood the United States with cocaine in
order to undermine the health and wellbeing of our nation. Maduro very deliberately deployed cocaine as
a weapon. While Maduro and other cartel
members held lofty titles in Venezuela’s political and military leadership, the
conduct described in the Indictment wasn’t statecraft or service to the
Venezuelan people. As alleged, the
defendants betrayed the Venezuelan people and corrupted Venezuelan institutions
to line their pockets with drug money.”
“Over the last decade, corrupt Venezuelan government
officials have systematically looted Venezuela of billions of dollars,” said
U.S. Attorney Ariana Fajardo Orshan.
“Far too often, these corrupt officials and their co-conspirators have
used South Florida banks and real estate to conceal and perpetuate their
illegal activity. As the recent charges
show, Venezuelan corruption and money laundering in South Florida extends to
even the highest levels of Venezuela’s judicial system. In the last couple of years, the US
Attorney’s Office in South Florida and its federal law enforcement partners
have united to bring dozens of criminal charges against high-level regime
officials and co-conspirators resulting in seizures of approximately $450
million dollars.”
“These indictments expose the devastating systemic
corruption at the highest levels of Nicolas Maduro’s regime,” said DEA Acting
Administrator Uttam Dhillon. “These
officials repeatedly and knowingly betrayed the people of Venezuela,
conspiring, for personal gain, with drug traffickers and designated foreign
terrorist organizations like the FARC.
Today’s actions send a clear message to corrupt officials everywhere
that no one is above the law or beyond the reach of U.S. law enforcement. The Department of Justice and the Drug
Enforcement Administration will continue to protect the American people from
ruthless drug traffickers – no matter who they are or where they live.”
“The collaborative nature of this investigation is
representative of the ongoing work HSI and international law enforcement
agencies perform each day, often behind the scenes and unknown to the public,
to make our communities safer and free from corruption,” said HSI’s Acting
Executive Associate Director Alysa D. Erichs.
“Today’s announcement highlights HSI’s global reach and commitment to
aggressively identify, target and investigate individuals who violate U.S.
laws, exploit financial systems, and hide behind cryptocurrency to further
their illicit criminal activity. Let
this indictment be a reminder that no one is above the law - not even powerful
political officials.”
A four-count superseding indictment unsealed today in the
Southern District of New York (SDNY) charges Nicolás Maduro Moros, 57; Diosdado
Cabello Rondón, 56, head of Venezuela’s National Constituent Assembly; Hugo
Armando Carvajal Barrios aka “El Pollo,” 59, former director of military
intelligence; Clíver Antonio Alcalá Cordones, 58, former General in the
Venezuelan armed forces; Luciano Marín Arango aka “Ivan Marquez,” 64, a member
of the FARC’s Secretariat, which is the FARC’s highest leadership body; and
Seuxis Paucis Hernández Solarte aka “Jesús Santrich,” 53, a member of the
FARC’s Central High Command, which is the FARC’s second-highest leadership
body. The case is pending before U.S.
District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein.
The U.S. Department of State, through its Narcotics Rewards
Program, is offering rewards of up to $15 million for information leading to
the arrest and/or conviction of Maduro Moros, up to $10 million for information
leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Cabello Rondón, Carvajal Barrios,
and Alcalá Cordones, and up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest
and/or conviction of Marín Arango.
Maduro Moros, Cabello Rondón, Carvajal Barrios, Alcalá
Cordones, Marín Arango, and Hernández Solarte have each been charged with: (1)
participating in a narco-terrorism conspiracy, which carries a 20-year
mandatory minimum sentence and a maximum of life in prison; (2) conspiring to
import cocaine into the United States, which carries a 10-year mandatory
minimum sentence and a maximum of life in prison; (3) using and carrying
machine guns and destructive devices during and in relation to, and possessing
machine guns and destructive devices in furtherance of, the narco-terrorism and
cocaine-importation conspiracies, which carries a 30-year mandatory minimum
sentence and a maximum of life in prison; and (4) conspiring to use and carry
machine guns and destructive devices during and in relation to, and to possess
machine guns and destructive devices in furtherance of, the narco-terrorism and
cocaine-importation conspiracies, which carries a maximum sentence of life in
prison. The potential mandatory minimum
and maximum sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and provided here
for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be
determined by the judge.
According to the allegations contained in the superseding
indictment, other court filings, and statements made during court proceedings:
Since at least 1999, Maduro Moros, Cabello Rondón, Carvajal
Barrios and Alcalá Cordones, acted as leaders and managers of the Cártel de Los
Soles, or “Cartel of the Suns.” The
Cartel’s name refers to the sun insignias affixed to the uniforms of
high-ranking Venezuelan military officials.
Maduro Moros and the other charged Cartel members abused the Venezuelan
people and corrupted the legitimate institutions of Venezuela—including parts
of the military, intelligence apparatus, legislature, and the judiciary—to
facilitate the importation of tons of cocaine into the United States. The Cártel de Los Soles sought to not only
enrich its members and enhance their power, but also to “flood” the United
States with cocaine and inflict the drug’s harmful and addictive effects on
users in the United States.
Marín Arango and Hernández Solarte are leaders of the
FARC. Beginning in approximately 1999,
while the FARC was purporting to negotiate toward peace with the Colombian
government, FARC leaders agreed with leaders of the Cártel de Los Soles to
relocate some of the FARC’s operations to Venezuela under the protection of the
Cartel. Thereafter, the FARC and the
Cártel de Los Soles dispatched processed cocaine from Venezuela to the United
States via transshipment points in the Caribbean and Central America, such as
Honduras. By approximately 2004, the
U.S. Department of State estimated that 250 or more tons of cocaine were
transiting Venezuela per year. The maritime
shipments were shipped north from Venezuela’s coastline using go-fast vessels,
fishing boats, and container ships. Air
shipments were often dispatched from clandestine airstrips, typically made of
dirt or grass, concentrated in the Apure State. According to the U.S.
Department of State, approximately 75 unauthorized flights suspected of
drug-trafficking activities entered Honduran airspace in 2010 alone, using what
is known as the “air bridge” cocaine route between Venezuela and Honduras.
In his role as a leader of the Cártel de Los Soles, Maduro
Moros negotiated multi-ton shipments of FARC-produced cocaine; directed that
the Cártel de Los Soles provide military-grade weapons to the FARC; coordinated
foreign affairs with Honduras and other countries to facilitate large-scale
drug trafficking; and solicited assistance from FARC leadership in training an
unsanctioned militia group that functioned, in essence, as an armed forces unit
for the Cártel de Los Soles.
DEA’s Special Operations Division Bilateral Investigations
Unit, New York Strike Force, and Miami Field Division conducted the
investigation. This case is being
handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York’s
Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amanda L.
Houle, Matthew J. Laroche, Jason A. Richman, and Kyle A. Wirshba are in charge
of the prosecution.
*
* *
An indictment unsealed today in the District of Columbia
charges Vladimir Padrino Lopez, 56, Minister of Defense of Venezuela. The
indictment alleges that from March 2014 until May 2019, Padrino Lopez conspired
with others to distribute cocaine on board an aircraft registered in the United
States.
Padrino Lopez, who holds the rank of General in the
Venezuelan armed forces, held the authority for interdicting aircraft, many of
which are registered in the United States, suspected of being used to traffic
drugs from Venezuela to countries in Central America. On numerous occasions, Padrino Lopez ordered
or authorized the Venezuelan military to force suspected trafficking aircraft
to land or to shoot down the aircraft.
However, Padrino Lopez allowed for other aircraft whose drug trafficking
coordinators paid bribes to him to safely transit Venezuelan airspace.
On Sept. 25, 2018, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) included Padrino Lopez on its Specially
Designated Nationals List. Pursuant to
the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, this means that his assets are
blocked and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from having financial
transactions with him.
The DEA Orlando District Office led the investigation, which
was supported by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force program and
the Criminal Division’s Office of Enforcement Operations. Acting Deputy Chief
Charles Miracle and Trial Attorneys Michael Christin and Kirt Marsh of the
Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section are prosecuting the
case.
*
* *
Maikel Jose Moreno Perez, 54, current Chief Justice of the
Venezuelan Supreme Court, was charged via a criminal complaint in the Southern
District of Florida with conspiracy to commit money laundering and money
laundering in connection with the alleged corrupt receipt or intended receipt
of tens of millions of dollars and bribes to illegally fix dozens of civil and
criminal cases in Venezuela.
The complaint alleges, for example, that the defendant
authorized a seizure and sale of a General Motors auto plant with an estimated
value of $100 million in exchange for a personal percentage of the
proceeds. Similarly, the complaint
alleges that the defendant received bribes to authorize the dismissal of
charges or release against Venezuelans, including one charged in a
multibillion-dollar fraud scheme against the Venezuelan state-owned oil
company.
According to the criminal complaint, in or around October
2014, Moreno Perez told U.S. authorities in a visa application that he earned
the equivalent of about $12,000 per year from his work in Venezuela. From 2012
to 2016, the defendant’s U.S. bank records show approximately $3 million in
inflows to the defendant’s accounts, primarily from large round-dollar
transfers from shell corporations with foreign bank accounts linked to
Co-Conspirator 1, who is a former criminal defense attorney in Venezuela that
currently controls a media company in Venezuela.
As set out in the criminal complaint, the defendant’s bank
records allegedly show that from 2012 to 2016, the defendant spent
approximately $3 million, primarily in the geographical area of South Florida.
For example, bank records allegedly show that Moreno Perez spent about $1
million for a private aircraft and private pilot, more than $600,000 in credit
or debit card purchases at stores primarily in South Florida (including tens of
thousands of dollars at luxury stores in Bal Harbor, such as Prada and
Salvatore Ferragamo), about $50,000 in payments to a luxury watch repair store
in Aventura, and approximately $40,000 in payments to a Venezuelan beauty
pageant director.
HSI’s Miami Field Office conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael N. Berger of
the Southern District of Florida is in charge of the prosecution.
*
* *
A separate superseding indictment unsealed today in the
Southern District of New York charges Tareck Zaidan El Aissami Maddah, 45,
Venezuela’s vice president for the economy, Joselit Ramirez Camacho, 33,
Venezuela’s superintendent of cryptocurrency (Sunacrip), and Samark Lopez
Bello, 45, a Venezuelan businessman, with a series of crimes relating to
efforts to evade sanctions imposed by OFAC against Maduro Moros, El Aissami
Maddah, and Lopez Bello.
The indictment alleges that from February 2017 until March
2019, El Aissami Maddah and Ramirez Camacho worked with U.S. persons and
U.S.-based entities to provide private flight services for the benefit of Maduro’s
2018 presidential campaign, in violation of OFAC’s sanctions targeting Maduro
after he organized elections for the illegitimate National Constituent Assembly
that Cabello Rondon now leads.
The U.S. Department of State, through its Narcotics Rewards
Program, is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to
the arrest and/or conviction of El Aissami Maddah.
HSI’s New York Field Office conducted the
investigation. This case is being
handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York’s
Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sam
Adelsberg and Amanda L. Houle are in charge of the prosecution.
*
* *
Other individuals charged in separate indictments include:
Luis Motta
Dominguez, 67, Former Minister of Energy, was charged in the Southern District
of Florida for his alleged role in laundering the proceeds of violations of the
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in connection with his alleged receipt of
bribes to award Corpoelec business to U.S.-based companies;
Nestor Reverol
Torres, 55, former General Director of Venezuela’s La Oficina Nacional
Antidrogas (ONA) and former commander of Venezuela’s National Guard and
Edylberto Jose Molina Molina, 57, former Sub-Director of Venezuela’s ONA and
currently Venezuela’s military attaché to Germany, were charged in the Eastern
District of New York with participating in an international cocaine distribution
conspiracy where they allegedly assisted narcotics traffickers in importing
cocaine into the United States;
Vassyly Kotosky
Villarroel Ramirez aka “Mauro” and “Angel,” 47, a former captain in the
Venezuelan Guardia Nacional, was charged in a third superseding indictment in
the Eastern District of New York with participating in an international cocaine
distribution conspiracy between Jan. 1, 2004, and Dec. 1, 2009;
Rafael Antonio
Villasana Fernandez, 48, a former officer in the Venezuelan Guardia Nacional,
was charged in the Eastern District of New York with participating in an
international cocaine distribution conspiracy between Jan. 1, 2004, and Dec. 1,
2009. According to court documents, Kotosky and Villasana allegedly used
official government vehicles to transport more than seven metric tons of
cocaine from the Colombian border to various airports and seaports in Venezuela
for ultimate importation into the United States;
Nervis Gerardo
Villalobos Cardenas, 52, former Vice Minister of Energy of Venezuela, was
charged in a 20-count indictment in the Southern District of Texas with
conspiracy to commit money laundering, money laundering and conspiracy to
violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for his alleged role in an
international money laundering scheme involving bribes paid by the owners of
U.S.-based companies to Venezuelan government officials to corruptly secure
energy contracts and payment priority on outstanding invoices; and
Oscar Rafael
Colmenarez Villalobos, 51, former Venezuelan Air Force Officer, charged in the
District of Arizona with violations of the Arms Export Control Act. He
allegedly conspired with others, including individuals associated with an
aviation company in Arizona, to smuggle from the United States to Venezuela
T-76 military aircraft engines used on OV-10 Bronco aircraft to individuals in
Venezuela and allegedly made false and misleading statements on shipping and
export control documents to conceal the prohibited activities and transactions from
detection of the U.S. government.
An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are
presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of
law.
The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs and
Office of Enforcement Operations provided valuable assistance
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment