Al Jazeera News :
Two nephews of Venezuela’s powerful first lady, arrested in Haiti on charges of conspiring to smuggle 800kg of cocaine into the US, will be arraigned in New York on Thursday.
Coming just three weeks ahead of key Venezuelan legislative elections, the arrests are likely to exacerbate already tense relations between Washington and Caracas – and cast a hard look at US accusations of drug trafficking at the highest levels of embattled President Nicolas Maduro’s socialist administration.
The two suspects, Efrain Campos and Francisco Flores, were extradited from Haiti and will be arraigned on Thursday in a federal court, said a US law enforcement official who insisted on anonymity because he wasn’t authorised to discuss the case.
Michael Vigil – a former head of international operations at the Drug Enforcement Administration, who was briefed by US authorities about the lengthy undercover operation that led to the arrests, said Campos and Flores were arrested in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, after arriving from Venezuela aboard a private plane.
Both men were carrying diplomatic passports, even though they don’t have diplomatic immunity, Vigil said.
He also said Campos had claimed to law enforcement that he is the son of Venezuela’s first lady Cilia Flores and stepson of Maduro.
Two nephews of Venezuela’s powerful first lady, arrested in Haiti on charges of conspiring to smuggle 800kg of cocaine into the US, will be arraigned in New York on Thursday.
Coming just three weeks ahead of key Venezuelan legislative elections, the arrests are likely to exacerbate already tense relations between Washington and Caracas – and cast a hard look at US accusations of drug trafficking at the highest levels of embattled President Nicolas Maduro’s socialist administration.
The two suspects, Efrain Campos and Francisco Flores, were extradited from Haiti and will be arraigned on Thursday in a federal court, said a US law enforcement official who insisted on anonymity because he wasn’t authorised to discuss the case.
Michael Vigil – a former head of international operations at the Drug Enforcement Administration, who was briefed by US authorities about the lengthy undercover operation that led to the arrests, said Campos and Flores were arrested in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, after arriving from Venezuela aboard a private plane.
Both men were carrying diplomatic passports, even though they don’t have diplomatic immunity, Vigil said.
He also said Campos had claimed to law enforcement that he is the son of Venezuela’s first lady Cilia Flores and stepson of Maduro.
