(CNN) – The Spanish High Court has approved the extradition of former Venezuelan director of intelligence Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios to the United States as “El Pollo”, a court spokesman told CNN on Wednesday.
The U.S. Justice Department said at the time that Carvajal had been arrested in Madrid last month for engaging in large-scale drug trafficking.
He was accused of plotting to smuggle cocaine into the United States last year, including 5.6 tons of cocaine smuggled from Venezuela to Mexico in April 2006 in the southern district of New York. Also faces gun-related offenses.
Arrest of Hugo Carvajal in Madrid
Carvajal is a trusted man of Hugo Chavez and one of his closest collaborators.
His association with the late leader of Venezuela dates back to 1992, when he was imprisoned this year for plotting to assassinate then-President Carlos Andres Perez.
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