Spanish police announced Thursday evening that they had arrested a former head of Venezuelan military intelligence, wanted by the United States, which accuses him of drug trafficking.
General Hugo Armando Carvajal, known as “the kid”, head of military intelligence during the presidency of the late Hugo Chavez, was arrested in Madrid, the Spanish national police said on Twitter.
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"He lived completely cloistered, going out or looking out the window, constantly protected by the faithful,"
said the police, broadcasting a short video of his arrest by officers in protective gear. Carvajal had disappeared after a Spanish court in November 2019 approved a US extradition request justified on drug trafficking charges. The police had gone to his home in Madrid to arrest him, to no avail, and his lawyer claimed to not know where he was.
"The kid" had been degraded by the administration of President Nicolas Maduro, the moral heir of Hugo Chavez, because he had taken a stand for Juan Guaido in February as president of Venezuela. He had fled by sea to the Dominican Republic before reaching Spain. Carvajal has long been wanted by the US Treasury, which suspects him of supporting the Colombian FARC in their drug trafficking. In a 2011 indictment, for example, the United States accused it of coordinating the transport of more than 5.6 tonnes of cocaine destined for the American market from Venezuela to Mexico.
He faces a 10-year life sentence and denies any involvement in drug trafficking. He was arrested in Spain in April 2019 and released in September when the Spanish courts refused his extradition on the grounds that the request was
"vague"
and
"politically motivated".
In November, the court had changed its mind, but Carvajal had fled.
