Ex-Venezuela spy chief Hugo Carvajal could sink Maduro with star witness testimony in d*ug trial

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: The former intelligence chief of Venezuela, Hugo Carvajal, better known by the nicknames “El Pollo” or “The Chicken,” could become a marquee witness for US prosecutors in their d*ug-trafficking case against Nicolas Maduro.

Once among the most powerful figures in Caracas, Carvajal pleaded guilty in June to n*rco-t*rrorism, weapons, and d*ug-trafficking charges in the same case that ensnared the Venezuelan strongman himself.

Both men are now being held at Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn as the case moves toward trial.

Hugo Carvajal may testify against Nicolas Maduro

Hugo Carvajal, 65, flipped sides years ago. In 2019, he publicly backed Juan Guaido, the US-supported rival of Nicolas Maduro, after falling out with the regime, hoping to help spark a coup that never materialized.

With a potential life sentence looming and sentencing scheduled for next month, Carvajal has already signaled interest in cooperating with US authorities.

“This is exactly the type of person that would be a witness in the case,” former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told the New York Post.

If Carvajal takes the stand and tells prosecutors what they want to hear, the payoff could be a “significant reduction in his sentence,” Rahmani said. “The sentencing [in d*ug-trafficking] cases are so high, so you have to cooperate,” the lawyer added.

Prosecutors may use Noriega case playbook

Dick Gregorie, a former prosecutor who handled the landmark US case against Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega in 1988, said there is a strong chance Hugo Carvajal will ultimately testify.

“I would assume if he had a deal that he made six months ago, that they have probably been preparing him for weeks, or months, maybe,” Gregorie said.

He added that Carvajal would not be the government’s only insider. Prosecutors will also have “a number of internal people from Venezuela and d*ug dealers who were involved in moving the d*ugs” ready to testify, Gregorie said.

Carvajal’s background could make him particularly valuable. A retired major general and longtime confidant of late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, he was accused of using his powerful post to help smuggle 12,300 pounds of c*caine aboard a plane from Venezuela to Mexico in 2006 and of pocketing millions of dollars from traffickers in return.

Despite pleading guilty to four counts, Carvajal did so without any formal promise of leniency from prosecutors, a risky move likely aimed at currying favor later.

His lawyer, Robert Feitel, said at the time that federal authorities had not offered a deal or even entered negotiations. “He has information that is extraordinarily important to our national security and law enforcement,” Feitel told Associated Press after the plea.

Gregorie said prosecutors are almost certain to lean on the Noriega case as a legal roadmap for pursuing Maduro. That case ended with a 40-year sentence in 1992 for d*ug trafficking, money laundering, and racketeering.

Nicolas Maduro faces n*rco-t*rrorism charges in New York

Nicolas Maduro, 69, was captured Saturday in a military operation alongside his wife, Cilia Flores, in a long-running 2020 case accusing him of turning Venezuela’s government into a n*rco-state.

Prosecutors allege that Maduro worked with violent d*ug organizations, including the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), the Sinaloa Cartel, the Zetas, and Tren de Aragua, to funnel thousands of tons of c*caine into the United States over more than a decade.

Flores and the couple’s son, Nicolas Maduro Guerra, were also charged in the alleged d*ug-trafficking scheme.

Maduro and Flores appeared Monday in Manhattan federal court in the Southern District of New York, where both pleaded not guilty. As the hearing concluded, Maduro claimed he had been “kidnapped” and was a “prisoner of war.”

Maduro and his wife were ordered held without bail. If convicted, both face up to life in prison.