UMVA has learned that Colombian businessman Alex Saab, a longtime confidant of the ousted Venezuelan leader, was abruptly deported following a dramatic joint U.S.–Venezuelan raid that seized him in February.
The deportation arrives less than three years after a contentious 2023 prisoner exchange in which President Biden granted Saab a pardon and released him, a move that sparked fierce debate worldwide.
This bold operation signals a new depth of collaboration between American authorities and Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, whose government has been tightening its grip on former regime insiders.
In the wake of a daring January U.S. military incursion that captured President Maduro, Rodríguez stripped Saab of his cabinet seat and dismantled his role as the primary conduit for foreign investment, effectively cutting off a vital lifeline.
If U.S. officials decide to place Saab back into custody, he could become a pivotal star witness, poised to testify against Maduro, who now faces a high‑stakes drug‑trafficking trial in Manhattan.
Court records have revealed that Saab conducted clandestine meetings with the DEA for years, feeding the agency insider intelligence that exposed deep‑seated corruption within Maduro’s inner circle.
U.S. officials have long labeled him Maduro’s “bag man,” and a 2020 detention on bribery charges accused him of siphoning roughly $350 million from the Venezuelan treasury.
Although his 2023 pardon addressed a narrow 2019 indictment over unfinished low‑income housing projects, Saab remains under active federal scrutiny for alleged bribery schemes tied to Venezuelan food‑import contracts.
Deportation officials described him merely as a “Colombian citizen,” a phrasing that sidestepped Venezuela’s strict laws against extraditing its own nationals, leaving his ultimate destination shrouded in secrecy.
Neither the Department of Justice nor Saab’s legal team has responded to requests for comment, leaving a cloud of unanswered questions hanging over this high‑profile saga.
