Two nephews of Venezuela’s 1st lady have been arrested (taken in to custody) & delivered to america to face drug trafficking charges, people acquainted with the matter stated on Wednesday.
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The two suspects are Franqui Francisco Flores-de Freitas and Efrain Antonio Campo-Flores, nephews of Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, reports Reuters.
The U.S. Treasury in 2011 accused four Venezuelan officials of being “often in direct support” of Colombian FARC rebels narcotics and arms trafficking activities and added them to the Americans’ so-called kingpin list.
“Yesterday we formally presented a request for the court to open a preliminary inquiry into high-ranking officials, especially Maduro, because we consider that they have committed crimes against humanity”, he told reporters in the Spanish capital – a move confirmed by an ICC source.
“He will blame the arrests on US imperialism and see them as an attempt to undermine his government”, Shifter said.
Vigil said Campos claimed to law enforcement that he is the son of Flores and stepson of Maduro.
Both men were arrested on Tuesday by Haitian police and handed over to U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents and transported aboard a DEA jet to NY the same day.
Without mentioning the arrests, the president of Venezuela’s National Assembly, Diosdado Cabello, used his weekly broadcast Wednesday night to accuse the US of trying to destabilize Maduro’s administration before the elections. They are scheduled to appear before a federal judge on Thursday.
The U.S. State Department said more than half of the cocaine produced in neighboring Colombia is trafficked through Venezuela toward markets in Europe and the United States.
But while several Venezuelan officials, including a former defense minister and head of military intelligence, have been indicted or sanctioned in the USA, and many more are under investigation, no drug probes had previously touched Maduro’s inner circle.
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