In a joint operation between the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN) and federal authorities of the United States arrested the Colombian-Venezuelan businessman Alex Saabin Caracas, according to international media reports that cite official sources.
His arrest occurs in a context of growing cooperation between Venezuelan and American authoritiesafter the US military operation on January 3, which culminated in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro.
This is the second time that the United States seeks to prosecute Saab, since in June 2020 he was arrested on the island of Cape Verde during a flight stopover; He was extradited to the United States in October 2021, where he faced charges of money laundering related to alleged bribery networks and transfers of hundreds of millions of dollars linked to the Chavista regime.
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However, they released him in December 2023 as part of a diplomatic agreement and a prisoner exchange with Venezuela.
After his release, Saab received a designation in October 2024 as Minister of Popular Power for Industry and National Productionone of the main positions within the Venezuelan economic cabinet.
Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity (MCCI) published in November 2021 that, between 2016 and 2020, Mexican companies participated in the food shipping to Venezuela for almost 800 million dollars, using a structure of intermediary companies registered in Hong Kong, Panama, Uruguay and the British Virgin Islands.
These operations received reports injournalistic investigations for sending low quality products and alleged schemes corruptiontax evasion and money laundering.
According to MCCI, the network operated until mid-2020, when the United States Department of the Treasury announced an investigation against Mexican companies allegedly linked to a scheme of the Maduro regime to evade international sanctions.
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Mexico recognizes acquisition of low quality food
In October 2018, the Government of Mexico reported that companies linked to Alex Saab They acquired low-quality food, exported it to Venezuela at a premium and resold it to the beneficiary population of the Local Supply and Production Committees up to 112% above its real cost.
As a result of the investigations, the Mexican authorities celebrated reparatory agreements with those involved, which included the payment of 3 million dollars to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the commitment of not to carry out commercial operations again related to the CLAP program.
Likewise, they were located in Mexican territory 1,300 containers with approximately 1.8 million pantries, which were finally sent to Venezuela to avoid aggravating the food crisis in that country.
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