Retired general who ‘helped Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro smuggle 250 TONS of cocaine into the US every year’ is arrested
- Retired Venezuelan army general Cliver Alcalá was charged with conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, and associated firearms
- He allegedly helped Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro ship 250 tons of cocaine a year into the US
- Alcalá surrendered to the Drug Enforcement Administration agents in Barranquilla, Colombia
- This arrest comes two days after the U.S. Justice Department indicted Maduro along with four co-conspirators on narco terrorism charges
A man who was considered one of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s loudest critics was arrested for allegedly helping the leader ship 250 tons of cocaine a year into the United States.
Retired Venezuelan army general Cliver Alcalá was charged with conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, and associated firearms, according to the Associated Press.
Alcalá surrendered to the Drug Enforcement Administration agents in Barranquilla, Colombia before heading for arraignment in New York.
‘We had everything ready,’ Alcalá said in social media video.
‘But circumstances that have plagued us throughout this fight against the regime generated leaks from the very heart of the opposition, the part that wants to coexist with Maduro.’
This arrest comes two days after the U.S. Justice Department indicted Maduro along with four co-conspirators on narco terrorism charges.
Retired Venezuelan army general Cliver Alcalá was charged with conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, and associated firearms
The indictment says Retired Venezuelan army general Cliver Alcalá helped Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro ship 250 tons of cocaine a year into the United States
The Justice Department had put up a $10 million reward for Alcalá’s arrest.
Alcalá was living Columbia since 2018, when he fled Venezuela after it was revealed he was trying to organize a coup to oust Maduro.
When he was an aide to then-president Hugo Chavez in 2008, Alcalá was ordered to organize drug shipments to rouge members of the Venezuelan army and guerrillas with the terrorist group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.
The Justice Department had put up a $10 million reward for tips leading to Alcalá’s arrest
U.S. Justice Department indicted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro along with four co-conspirators on narco terrorism charges
Oddly enough, Maduro has accused the DEA of working with Alcalá to assassinate him.
Alcalá took responsibility for a cache of assault weapons and military equipment that was made in the U.S. and seized in Columbia. Alcalá said the weapons were to be used to help out Maduro, based on a contract he had with opposition leader Juan Guaidó and his “American advisers.”
In a social media video, Alcalá said: “I face the responsibilities for my actions with the truth.”