Hugo Carvajal, Venezuela’s former intelligence chief, could emerge as a central cooperating witness in the U.S. drug trafficking case against Nicolás Maduro, according to public court records.
The retired major general, known by the nickname “El Pollo,” pleaded guilty in June to narco-terrorism, weapons, and drug trafficking charges tied to the same indictment facing Maduro, and is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn as the case moves forward.
Carvajal has indicated a willingness to cooperate with U.S. prosecutors as he awaits sentencing next month, according to accounts of his plea and subsequent filings.
Carvajal, 65, once served as Venezuela’s military intelligence chief and was considered an ally of the late President Hugo Chávez before breaking with Chávez’s successor. He later backed opposition leader Juan Guaidó during the failed 2019 effort to remove Maduro from power.
U.S. prosecutors have alleged that Carvajal used his position to facilitate large-scale cocaine shipments and accepted millions of dollars from traffickers in exchange for protection.
“This is exactly the type of person that would be a witness in the case,” former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told The New York Post, adding that truthful testimony could result in a “significant reduction in his sentence.”
Another former prosecutor involved in the U.S. case against Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega in the late 1980s said there was a “good possibility” Carvajal could testify for the government and suggested preparations may already be underway, according to the same report.
Maduro, 63, was arraigned in Manhattan federal court on January 5 alongside his wife, Cilia Flores, after U.S. forces captured the couple in Caracas over the weekend.
Both pleaded not guilty to charges accusing them of leading a years-long conspiracy to traffic cocaine into the United States in coordination with foreign criminal and militant groups, The Dallas Express reported.
Speaking through an interpreter at the hearing, Maduro declared, “I am innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man,” while also claiming he remains Venezuela’s legitimate president. As marshals escorted him from the courtroom, he said, “I am the elected president. I am a prisoner of war. I will be free.”
Defense attorneys have signaled they may challenge the legality of Maduro’s capture and argue he is entitled to sovereign immunity, claims prosecutors are expected to dispute by pointing to longstanding U.S. allegations that his government functioned as a criminal enterprise.
Previous exclusive reporting by The Dallas Express detailed accusations from former Venezuelan officials, including Carvajal, alleging that senior figures coordinated drug trafficking and used criminal networks as instruments of state power. Those allegations have not been independently verified.
If Carvajal ultimately takes the stand, his testimony could offer jurors a rare inside account of Venezuela’s intelligence and military leadership during the period covered by the indictment, potentially shaping one of the most consequential foreign narco-trafficking trials ever brought in a U.S. court.
