Alex Saab was captured in Venezuela

Intelligence sources in the United States confirmed to Caracol Radio that the businessman Alex Saab, known as Nicolás Maduro’s front manwould have been captured in Venezuela for his extradition to the United States.

The capture occurred in the early morning in a joint operation between Venezuelan authorities and the FBI. The arrest occurred around 2AM.

Caracol Radio also learned that the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service He has it in his possession while its shipment to the United States is defined.

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Who is Álex Saab?

Saab, of Lebanese origin but born in Barranquilla on December 21, 1971, is described as a “diplomat linked” to Venezuela since 2000 on behalf of construction businesses and as a participant in the Local Supply and Production Committees (CLAP).

During his years of ties with Chavismo, the Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs assures that Saab achieved “important agreements with Mexican, Turkish, Colombian and other companies.” other countries” for the CLAP program.

Additionally, Saab was named in 2018 as “special envoy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuelawhich made him a diplomatic official to carry out humanitarian work.”

Raúl Gorrín, the other captured

Apart from the arrest of Alex Saab in the early morning, in the joint operation between Venezuela and the United States Raúl Gorrín was also arrested, another Venezuelan businessman also identified as Nicolás Maduro’s front man.

Gorrín Belisario is a Venezuelan businessmanowner of the Globovisió channeln, and sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Department of the Treasury for having paid bribes of up to 159 million dollars to Venezuelan officials.

According to reports from the United States Department of Justice, “Gorrín paid bribes to obtain access to the purchase of bonds National Treasure of Venezuela at a favorable exchange rate, which resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars of profit”.

For the US authorities, the conspiracy carried out by Gorrín involved “bulk cash hidden in cardboard boxes, shell companies in tax havens, Swiss bank accounts and international bank transfers allegedly sent by Gorrín to purchase multiple private jets and yachts, and to finance a fashion line of high-end in South Florida.”

Saab’s second round with the United States?

Saab was arrested in Cape Verde in 2020 and later extradited to the United States, where Justice He accused him of conspiracy to launder money and of being a “front man” for the Venezuelan Government.

In this case, he was imprisoned in the United States from October 2021 to December 2023. when he was released after a presidential pardon signed by the then president of the United States, Joe Biden.

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Are there charges against Saab in the United States?

No. In March 2024the American justice system definitively dismissed all charges against Alex Saab, who was released in 2023 after the presidential pardon of Joe Biden.

According to a motion dated Thursday, March 21 and filed in court the day before, Federal Magistrate Robert Scola granted dismissal of all charges that weighed against Saab.

Saab was charged with 8 charges, including conspiracy to launder money and being part of a network of corruption to generate cost overruns in the food boxes subsidized by Venezuela.

The departure of Alex Saab from the Chavista cabinet

Weeks after the capture of Nicolás Maduro, Saab left the leadership of the Ministry of Industries and National Production with that of National Commerce. Saab was replaced by Luis Villegas.

The now former official was appointed by Maduro, in October 2024, as Minister of Industry and National Production replacing Pedro Tellechea, whom the president had appointed to the position in August of that year, but was later arrested.