Venezuelan official Alex Saab, a former businessman and close ally of jailed former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, was arrested in the Latin American country on Wednesday as part of a joint operation between the US and Venezuela, a US law enforcement official said.
The 54-year-old Saab, who was previously detained in the US, is expected to be extradited to the US in the coming days, the US official told Reuters.
A lawyer for Saab, Luigi Giuliano, was quoted in Colombian newspaper El Espectador later on Wednesday as denying the arrest as “fake news.” Journalists associated with the Venezuelan government also posted messages on social media denying that Saab had been arrested.
Giuliano told Venezuelan news site TalCual that Saab might appear to refute the arrest allegations himself, but that he was consulting with the government about what happened.
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Venezuelan official Alex Saab was arrested during a joint operation between the US and Venezuela. (REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria)
Venezuela’s top lawmaker, Jorge Rodríguez, did not confirm or deny the reports at a news conference and said he had no information about the possible arrest.
This comes after the US operation to attack Venezuela and arrest Maduro, and the Trump administration’s subsequent seizure of oil tankers from the country.
Saab’s arrest would suggest a new level of cooperation between US and Venezuelan authorities under the government of interim President Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s former deputy, who currently controls Venezuelan law enforcement agencies and actions.
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Businessman Alex Saab is expected to be extradited to the US in the coming days. (Pedro Rances Mattey/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The US official stressed the importance of Rodriguez’s cooperation in the joint operation.
Raul Gorrin, the head of Venezuelan television network Globovision, was also arrested during the operation, the official said.
Saab, who was born in Colombia, was detained in the African country of Cape Verde earlier in 2020 and held in the US for more than three years on bribery charges. He was eventually granted clemency in exchange for the release of Americans held in Venezuela.
Before he was granted clemency, U.S. officials had accused Saab of taking about $350 million out of Venezuela through the U.S. as part of a bribery scheme linked to Venezuela’s state-controlled exchange rate.
Venezuelan official Alex Saab is a close ally of jailed former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. (Gabriela Oraa/AFP) (Photo by GABRIELA ORAA/AFP via Getty Images)
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Saab denied the allegations and appealed to have the charges dismissed on the grounds of diplomatic immunity. An appeals court had not yet ruled on Saab’s appeal at the time the prisoner exchange took place.
Returning to Venezuela in late 2023, Maduro praised Saab’s loyalty to the country’s socialist revolution and called him a national hero.
Maduro later appointed Saab as industry minister, a position he held until last month, when he was fired by Rodriguez following the arrest of the country’s former leader.
Reuters contributed to this report.
