Maduro ally Saab arrested in Venezuela, US official says

By Jana Winter

WASHINGTON, Feb 4 (Reuters) – Venezuelan official Alex Saab, a former businessman once detained in the United States, was arrested in Venezuela on Wednesday as part of a joint operation between U.S. and Venezuelan officials, a U.S. law enforcement official said.

Colombian-born Saab, a close ally of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, was detained in Cape Verde in 2020 and held in the United States on bribery charges for more than three years, before being granted a pardon in exchange for the release of Americans held in Venezuela.

Colombian newspaper El Espectador denied the arrest was “fake news” later on Wednesday, citing Saab’s lawyer, Luigi Giuliano. Journalists affiliated with the Venezuelan government also denied Saab’s arrest in social media posts.

Speaking to Venezuelan news site TalCual, Giuliano said Saab could appear to confirm this in person, but added that he had consulted the government about what was happening.

Venezuela’s top lawmaker, Jorge ‌Rodriguez, neither denied nor confirmed the reports, saying at an evening press conference that it was not within his purview and that he had no knowledge of the possible arrest.

Giuliano did not immediately respond to emails sent to addresses listed on a law firm’s website. A lawyer representing Saab in US court in December 2023 declined to comment.

The US official said that 54-year-old Saab is expected to be extradited to the US in the coming days.

This would represent a dramatic development a month after Maduro was captured by US forces in Caracas and mark a new level of cooperation between US and Venezuelan law enforcement under the government of Maduro’s former deputy, interim President Delcy Rodriguez.

The US official noted the importance of Rodriguez’s cooperation in the joint operation. As interim leader, Rodriguez controls Venezuela’s law enforcement and actions.

The U.S. Department of Justice and the White House did not respond to requests for comment.

Raul Gorrin, head of Venezuela’s Globovision TV network, was also arrested during the operation, according to the official.

Gorrin’s lawyers were not immediately identified. Globovision did not respond to a call and email from Reuters.

Venezuela’s communications ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Before his 2023 leniency, U.S. officials had accused Saab of siphoning nearly $350 million from Venezuela through the United States as part of a bribery scheme linked to Venezuela’s state-controlled exchange rate.

Saab denied the accusations and called for the charges to be dismissed on grounds of diplomatic immunity. The appeals court had not ruled on Saab’s appeal at the time of the prisoner swap.

He returned to Venezuela with fanfare at the end of 2023; where Maduro praised his commitment to the country’s socialist revolution and welcomed him as a national hero.

Maduro later became Saab industry minister, a post he held until he was ousted by Rodriguez last month.

(Reporting by Jana Winter in Washington; Additional reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb in Bogota and Brendan O’Boyle in Mexico City; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)