Venezuela deports Maduro ally to US after months in detention

Venezuelan authorities have deported businessman and official of Colombian origin Alex Saab to the United States after several months in detention, according to the country’s migration agency SAIME.

Saab, a former close associate of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, was detained in January and later transferred under circumstances described by officials as linked to his alleged involvement in crimes in the United States. The agency said this was a “well-known and widely reported fact.”

Saab served as Venezuela’s Minister of Industry and National Production from October 2024 to January 16, 2026. He was first arrested in Cape Verde in June 2020 at the request of US authorities and later extradited to the United States in October 2021, where he was accused of laundering $350 million through banks.

In December 2023, after legal proceedings, Saab was released as part of a prisoner exchange between Washington and Caracas and returned to Venezuela. According to Reuters, he may provide US authorities with information relevant to a criminal case against Maduro. 

By Jeyhun Aghazada