Alex Saab arrested in Venezuela in joint operation with US, according to official
A US official reported the arrest of former Venezuelan minister Alex Saab; his lawyer denies it and says he saw him that morning.
Arrest of Alex Saab: contradictory accounts between authorities and defence
Former Venezuelan Industry Minister Alex Saab was arrested on Wednesday as part of a joint operation between authorities in Washington and Caracas, according to a US official cited by eleconomista.com.mx. The same official indicated that businessman Raúl Gorrín was also detained.
Saab's lawyer, Luigi Giuliano, categorically rejected those accounts. "He is calm in Caracas and this afternoon I am going to see him again," Giuliano told Colombian newspaper El Espectador, after asserting that he was with his client that morning and that reports of his capture were "fake news".
Journalists linked to the Venezuelan government also denied the arrest on social media after initial reports of the detention circulated in Colombian media outlets. Venezuela's Ministry of Communications did not respond to a request for comment, and it was not possible to confirm whether Saab or Gorrín have legal representation.
Saab's wife, Camila Fabri, was captured on local television receiving returned migrants at Maiquetía airport, near Caracas, during the afternoon of the same day.
Saab, 54, is a Colombian-Venezuelan businessman and close ally of former president Nicolás Maduro. He was arrested in Cabo Verde in June 2020 and remained detained for more than three years on a bribery scheme, until he was granted a pardon in exchange for the release of US citizens imprisoned in Venezuela. Before that pardon, Washington had accused him of diverting approximately 350 million dollars through the United States, as part of a scheme linked to the exchange rate controlled by the Venezuelan state.
Following his return to Venezuela in 2023, Maduro publicly honoured him as a national hero and appointed him Industry Minister. Saab held that position until last month, when he was removed by interim president Delcy Rodríguez.
The new detention, if confirmed, would occur one month after Maduro himself was captured in Caracas, and would point to an unprecedented level of cooperation between the law enforcement forces of the United States and Venezuela under Rodríguez's government. According to the US official, Saab is expected to be extradited to the United States in the coming days.
Source: Google News VE — Caracas