Close Maduro ally deported to US, will face criminal charges
FILE-(L-R) President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro gestures as President of Venezuela's International Center for Productive Investment Alex Saab speaks during a march for the 65th anniversary of the overthrow of dictator Marcos Perez Jimenez on January
A close ally of Nicolás Maduro was deported to face judicial proceedings in the United States less than three years after the business owner was pardoned by President Joe Biden as part of a prisoner swap.
In a statement from the Venezuelan government on Saturday, obtained by the Associated Press, the agency did not say where it deported Alex Saab but said its decision was related to ongoing criminal probes in the U.S.
RELATED: Who is Nicolás Maduro? Venezuelan president captured by US forces
Saab might be asked to testify against Maduro, who is awaiting trial on drug charges in New York after being captured in a raid by the U.S. military in January.
Who is Alex Saab?
The backstory:
Alex Saab, 54, is a business owner who built a fortune through Venezuelan government contracts. Saab fell out of favor with the country’s new leadership that took power after Nicolás Maduro’s removal.
After taking over from Maduro on Jan. 3, Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez demoted Saab, firing him from her Cabinet and stripping him of his role as the main conduit for foreign organizations seeking to invest in Venezuela.
RELATED: US seizes airplane used by Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro
According to the Associated Press, Saab’s removal to the United States is likely to intensify divisions inside Rodríguez's ruling faction of Chavistas, named for the movement started by the late Hugo Chávez.
The AP noted that federal prosecutors have been investigating Saab’s involvement in an alleged bribery conspiracy involving Venezuelan government contracts to import food.
In 2020, Saab was arrested after his private jet made a refueling stop in Cape Verde on the way to Iran on what the Venezuelan government described as a humanitarian mission to evade U.S. sanctions.
President Joe Biden in 2023 agreed to free Saab in exchange for the release of several imprisoned Americans and Venezuela’s return of a fugitive foreign defense contractor known as "Fat Leonard."
If Saab is returned to U.S. custody, the Associated Press reported that he could become a key witness against Maduro.
Saab met with the Drug Enforcement Administration before his first arrest and, in a 2022 court hearing, his attorney revealed that Saab helped the DEA unravel corruption in Maduro’s inner circle. Saab also forfeited over $12 million in illegal proceeds from corrupt business dealings as part of his cooperation.
The Source: Information for this story was provided by The Associated Press. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.