US security officials have arrested a retired Venezuelan army general identified as Cliver Alcala who was indicted alongside President Nicolas Maduro, with reports revealing that he is being taken by Drug Enforcement Administration agents to New York for arraignment.
Alcala has been charged by US authorities with allegedly running a “narcoterrorist conspiracy” with Maduro, socialist party boss Diosdado Cabello and another retired army generals.
United States prosecutors allege they sent 250 metric tonnes of cocaine a year to the US and turned the Venezuelan state into a platform for violent cartels and Colombian rebels.
This comes a day after President Donald Trump offered the princely sum of $15m reward for anyone with information leading to the arrest of Venezuela’s President, Nicolás Maduro.
This comes after Trump’s administration announced Thursday, indictments against Maduro and members of his inner circle for effectively converting Venezuela’s state into a criminal enterprise at the service of drug traffickers and terrorist groups.
The American government accused the socialist leader and other Venezuelan officials of conspiring with Colombian rebels “to flood the United States with cocaine”.
