MADRID, Nov 9, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – A top Spanish court has said it will
extradite Venezuela’s former military intelligence chief to the US on drug
trafficking charges, a judicial source said, just weeks after the court
ordered his release.
Spain’s National Court on Friday approved an appeal from the public
prosecutors’ office to send General Hugo Armando Carvajal to the US on the
country’s request, the source said.
The appeal followed the court’s decision in September to free Carvajal, who
has been held in provisional detention since his arrest in Madrid in April.
The court’s decision must still be ratified by the Spanish government, the
source told AFP.
Known as “El Pollo” (the Chicken), Carvajal served as head of military
intelligence under late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez but was stripped of his
rank after coming out in support of Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s acting
president in February.
He then fled by boat to the Dominican Republic before relocating to Spain.
Carvajal has long been sought by US Treasury officials who suspect him of
providing support to drug trafficking by the FARC guerrilla group in
Colombia.
In an indictment filed in New York in 2011, Carvajal was accused of
coordinating the transport of more than 5.6 tonnes of cocaine from Venezuela
to Mexico in 2006 that was ultimately destined for the United States.
If convicted, Carvajal could face between 10 years and life in prison, the
US Justice Department said in April following his arrest.
Carvajal has denied any “links to drug trafficking and the FARC”, Spanish
judicial sources said at the time.