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In a significant development, Alex Saab, once a prominent businessman and a trusted confidant of ex-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, was apprehended in Venezuela on Wednesday. This arrest was the result of a collaborative effort between U.S. and Venezuelan authorities, as confirmed by a U.S. law enforcement representative.
Previously detained in the United States, the 54-year-old Saab is anticipated to be extradited to the U.S. in the near future, according to information provided to Reuters by the U.S. official.
However, Saab’s legal representative, Luigi Giuliano, challenged these claims, dismissing them as “fake news” in a statement published by the Colombian outlet El Espectador. Additionally, journalists supportive of the Venezuelan government echoed this sentiment on social media, denying any such arrest had occurred.
Giuliano further elaborated to the Venezuelan news platform TalCual that Saab might personally address the public to counter these arrest reports. He mentioned that Saab is currently in discussions with the government to clarify the situation.
The arrest of Venezuelan official Alex Saab, reportedly executed through a joint operation between the U.S. and Venezuela, marks a pivotal moment in the ongoing international legal proceedings surrounding him. (Reuters/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria)
Venezuela’s top lawmaker, Jorge Rodríguez, did not confirm or deny the reports during a press conference, saying he had no information concerning the possible arrest.
This comes after the U.S. operation to attack Venezuela and arrest Maduro, and the Trump administration’s subsequent seizing of oil tankers from the country.
Saab’s arrest would suggest a new level of collaboration between U.S. and Venezuelan authorities under the government of interim President Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s former deputy, who currently controls Venezuela’s law enforcement agencies and actions.
Alex Saab is expected to be extradited to the U.S. in the coming days. (Pedro Rances Mattey/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The U.S. official highlighted the significance of Rodriguez’s cooperation in the joint operation.
Raul Gorrin, the head of Venezuela’s Globovision TV network, was also arrested in the operation, the official said.
Saab, who was born in Colombia, was previously detained in the African nation of Cape Verde in 2020 and held in the U.S. 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 charged Saab with taking around $350 million out of Venezuela through the U.S. as part of a bribery scheme connected to Venezuela’s state-controlled exchange rate.
Venezuelan official Alex Saab is a close ally of captured former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. (Gabriela Oraa/AFP via Getty Images)
Saab denied the allegations and appealed to have the charges dismissed on grounds of diplomatic immunity. An appeals court had not ruled on Saab’s appeal by the time the prisoner swap went through.
When he returned to Venezuela at the end of 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 dismissed by Rodriguez following the arrest of the country’s former leader.