{"id":1902,"date":"2026-05-19T12:31:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T12:31:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=1902"},"modified":"2026-05-19T12:31:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T12:31:23","slug":"close-maduro-ally-deported-to-us-will-face-criminal-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=1902","title":{"rendered":"Close Maduro ally deported to US, will face criminal charges"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/figure>\n article<\/span><\/div>

FILE-(L-R) President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro gestures as President of Venezuela’s International Center for Productive Investment Alex Saab speaks during a march for the 65th anniversary of the overthrow of dictator Marcos Perez Jimenez on January <\/span> <\/p>

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Expand<\/div><\/div><\/div> <\/div>

A close ally of Nicol\u00e1s Maduro was deported to face judicial proceedings in the United States less than three years after the business owner was pardoned by President Joe Biden as part of a prisoner swap.\u00a0<\/p>

In a statement from the Venezuelan government on Saturday, obtained by the Associated Press, the agency did not say where it deported Alex Saab but said its decision was related to ongoing criminal probes in the U.S.<\/p>

RELATED:<\/strong> Who is Nicol\u00e1s Maduro? Venezuelan president captured by US forces<\/u><\/strong><\/p>

<\/div>

Saab might be asked to testify against Maduro, who is awaiting trial on drug charges in New York after being captured in a raid by the U.S. military in January.\u00a0<\/p>

Who is Alex Saab?<\/h2>

The backstory:<\/p>

Alex Saab, 54, is a business owner who built a fortune through Venezuelan government contracts. Saab fell out of favor with the country\u2019s new leadership that took power after Nicol\u00e1s Maduro\u2019s removal.\u00a0<\/p>

After taking over from Maduro on Jan. 3, Venezuela\u2019s acting President Delcy Rodr\u00edguez demoted Saab, firing him from her Cabinet and stripping him of his role as the main conduit for foreign organizations seeking to invest in Venezuela.\u00a0<\/p>

RELATED:<\/strong>\u00a0US seizes airplane used by Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro<\/u><\/strong><\/p>

According to the Associated Press, Saab\u2019s removal to the United States is likely to intensify divisions inside Rodr\u00edguez’s ruling faction of Chavistas, named for the movement started by the late Hugo Ch\u00e1vez.<\/p>

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The AP noted that federal prosecutors have been investigating Saab\u2019s involvement in an alleged bribery conspiracy involving Venezuelan government contracts to import food.\u00a0<\/p>

In 2020, Saab was arrested after his private jet made a refueling stop in Cape Verde on the way to Iran on what the Venezuelan government described as a humanitarian mission to evade U.S. sanctions.\u00a0<\/p>

President Joe Biden in 2023 agreed to free Saab in exchange for the release of several imprisoned Americans and Venezuela\u2019s return of a fugitive foreign defense contractor known as “Fat Leonard.”<\/p>

If Saab is returned to U.S. custody, the Associated Press reported that he could become a key witness against Maduro.<\/p>

Saab met with the Drug Enforcement Administration before his first arrest and, in a 2022 court hearing, his attorney revealed that Saab helped the DEA unravel corruption in Maduro\u2019s inner circle. Saab also forfeited over $12 million in illegal proceeds from corrupt business dealings as part of his cooperation.<\/p>

Read more Texas sues \u2018TexAM\u2019 over alleged fake degrees and confusing Texas A&M branding<\/a><\/p>

\u00a0<\/p> <\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alex Saab, a close ally of Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, was deported to the U.S. a few years after being pardoned as part of a prisoner swap.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1900,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,19,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime-and-public-safety","category-u-s","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\nClose Maduro ally deported to US, will face criminal charges - Houston Moving Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=1902\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Close Maduro ally deported to US, will face criminal charges - 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