Maduro
and Other High Ranking Venezuelan Officials Allegedly Partnered With the FARC
to Use Cocaine as a Weapon to “Flood” the United States
By US Department of Justice
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.
No hay comentarios.:
Publicar un comentario