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The ''Narcosobrinos'' affair (
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
for ''drug-nephews'') is the situation of events that surrounded two nephews of Venezuelan President
Nicolás Maduro Nicolás Maduro Moros (; born 23 November 1962) is a Venezuelan politician and president of Venezuela since 2013, with his presidency under dispute since 2019. Beginning his working life as a bus driver, Maduro rose to become a trade union ...
and his wife
Cilia Flores Cilia Adela Flores de Maduro (born 15 October 1956) is a Venezuelan lawyer and politician. She is married to the President of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro, making her the First Lady. Since 2015, she has also been a deputy in the National Assembly of ...
who were arrested for narcotics trafficking. The nephews, Efraín Antonio Campo Flores and Francisco Flores de Freitas, were arrested on 10 November 2015 by the
United States Drug Enforcement Administration The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domestic enf ...
in
Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is define ...
,
Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and s ...
after attempting to transport 800 kilograms of
cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Am ...
into the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
. A year later on 18 November 2016, the two nephews were found guilty, with the cash allegedly destined to "help their family stay in power". On 14 December 2017, the two were
sentenced Sentenced was a Finnish gothic metal band that played melodic death metal in their early years. The band formed in 1989 in the town of Muhos and broke up in 2005. History Early years (1988–1991) Sentenced started in 1988 as Deformity and ...
to 18 years of imprisonment.


Etymology

The word ''Narcosobrinos'' is the word ''narco'', meaning "
drug dealer A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalati ...
", followed by ''sobrinos'', which translates to "nephews". Its translation could therefore be "drug dealer nephews". The term derived from the media which focused on the relation of drug dealing charges to President Maduro's nephews.


Background

According to
Jackson Diehl Jackson Diehl (born 1956) was the deputy editorial page editor of ''The Washington Post'' from February, 2001 to August, 2021. He was part of the ''Washington Post'' team that won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Public Service. He wrote many of the pa ...
, Deputy Editorial Page Editor of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...
'', the Bolivarian government of Venezuela shelters "one of the world's biggest drug cartels". There have been allegations of former president
Hugo Chávez Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician who was president of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013, except for a brief period in 2002. Chávez was also leader of the Fifth Republ ...
being involved with drug trafficking. In May 2015, ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' reported from United States officials that drug trafficking in Venezuela increased significantly with Colombian drug traffickers moving from Colombia to Venezuela due to pressure from law enforcement. One
United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...
official described the higher ranks of the Venezuelan government and military as "a criminal organization", with high ranking Venezuelan officials being accused of drug trafficking. Those involved with investigations stated that Venezuelan government defectors and former traffickers had given information to investigators and that details of those involved in government drug trafficking were increasing. Anti-drug authorities have also accused some Venezuelan officials of working with Mexican drug cartels. At a presentation at the XXXII International Conference on Drugs in 2015, commander of the
United States Southern Command The United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM), located in Doral, Florida in Greater Miami, is one of the eleven unified combatant commands in the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for providing contingency planning, o ...
General
John Kelly John or Jack Kelly may refer to: People Academics and scientists *John Kelly (engineer), Irish professor, former Registrar of University College Dublin *John Kelly (scholar) (1750–1809), at Douglas, Isle of Man * John Forrest Kelly (1859–1922) ...
stated that though relations with other Latin American nations countering drug trafficking has been good, Venezuela was not as cooperative and that "there's a lot of cocaine leaving Venezuela to the world market". General Kelly also stated that almost all shipments of cocaine using aircraft comes out of Venezuela and that since 2013 to early-2014, the route of drug trafficking aircraft has changed from heading to Central America to primarily traveling through Caribbean islands. The ''Narcosobrinos'' incident happened at a time when multiple high-ranking members of the Venezuelan government were being investigated for their involvement of drug trafficking, including Walter Jacobo Gavidia, Cilia Flores' son who is a Caracas judge, former National Assembly President
Diosdado Cabello Diosdado Cabello Rondón (born 15 April 1963Vicepresidencia de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela also drug lord of Venezuela , atentamente alcardonDiosdado Cabello Rondón, accessed 19 April 2010) is a Venezuelan politician and current mem ...
, and Governor of Aragua State
Tarek El Aissami Tareck Zaidan El Aissami Maddah (; ar, طارق زيدان العيسمي مداح; born 12 November 1974) is a Venezuelan politician serving as Minister of Industries and National Production since 14 June 2018, and as Minister of Petroleum sin ...
.


Series of events


Preparation and DEA monitoring

Campo Flores and Flores de Freitas were involved in illicit activities such as drug trafficking and possibly financially assisted President Maduro's presidential campaign in the
2013 Venezuelan presidential election Presidential elections were held in Venezuela on 14 April 2013 following the death of President Hugo Chávez on 5 March 2013. Nicolás Maduro—who had assumed the role of acting president since Chávez's death—was declared winner with a narrow ...
and potentially for the
2015 Venezuelan parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Venezuela on 6 December 2015 to elect the 164 deputies and three indigenous representatives of the National Assembly. They were the fourth parliamentary elections to take place after the 1999 constitution, ...
s. One informant stated that the two would often fly out of Terminal 4 of Simon Bolivar Airport, a terminal reserved for the president. The nephews and DEA informants met on multiple occasions in Haiti, Honduras and Venezuela while every meeting "produced an audio recording plus three to seven videos". Campo and Flores planned to ship cocaine supplied by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to the United States and sought for assistance with their plans. On 3 October 2015, a confidential DEA informant known as CW-1 and his employee "El Flaco" were contacted by a Venezuelan contact known as "Hamudi" who introduced Campo and Flores to the informant. The next day on 4 October 2015, the two flew from Venezuela to
San Pedro Sula San Pedro Sula () is the capital of Cortés Department, Honduras. It is located in the northwest corner of the country in the Sula Valley, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Puerto Cortés on the Caribbean Sea. With a population of 671,46 ...
,
Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...
, with nephews stating that they would use their connections to send narcotics on legal flights from
Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in th ...
, Venezuela to
Roatán Roatán () is an island in the Caribbean, about off the northern coast of Honduras. It is located between the islands of Utila and Guanaja, and is the largest of the Bay Islands of Honduras. The island was formerly known in English as Ruatan ...
, Honduras, knowing that their relation to the president "would open doors for the smuggling operation". In late-October, CS-1, who presented himself as a Mexican drug boss and CS-2, presenting himself as an associate of CS-1, flew to Caracas, Venezuela to meet with the nephews. Around 23 October 2015, CS-1 and CS-2 met with the nephews, with Campo stating that he was "the one in charge" and that "we're at war with the United States ... with Colombia ... with the opposition". Campo also reassured the two informants that the cocaine shipments would not be tracked by law enforcement because the plane would "depart from here as if ... some from our family were on the plane". Days later on 26 October 2015, Campo stated that the two were to ship cocaine and were seeking to raise about $20 million, explaining that CW-1 would be paid about $900,000 to receive the cocaine in Honduras. The next day on 27 October 2015, Campo and Flores presented a kilogram of cocaine to CS-1 and CS-2 to show its purity, with the informants believing that the purity was between 95%-97%. On 5 November 2015, informant CS-3 met with co-defendant Roberto de Jesus Soto Garcia to plan on how to receive the cocaine in Honduras. Soto explained the schedule at the
Juan Manuel Gálvez International Airport Juan Manuel Gálvez International Airport ( es, link=no, Aeropuerto Internacional Juan Manuel Gálvez) is an international airport located on the island of Roatán, in the Caribbean Sea off the northern coast of Honduras. from DAFIF (effectiv ...
in Roatán, Honduras and stated that the load of cocaine would then be "arranged with all of those inside of the airport".


Arrests


Campo Flores and Flores de Freites

On 10 November 2015, Campo Flores and Flores de Freites were flown into
Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is define ...
,
Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and s ...
by two Venezuelan military personnel accompanied by two presidential honor guards carrying more than 800 kilograms of
cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Am ...
destined for
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. The jet was a Cessna Citation 500 that belonged to Lebanese Venezuelan businessmen Majed and Khaled Khalil Majzoun, who were linked to old projects of the
Hugo Chávez Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (; 28 July 1954 – 5 March 2013) was a Venezuelan politician who was president of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013, except for a brief period in 2002. Chávez was also leader of the Fifth Republ ...
government and close to high ranking Venezuelan politician
Diosdado Cabello Diosdado Cabello Rondón (born 15 April 1963Vicepresidencia de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela also drug lord of Venezuela , atentamente alcardonDiosdado Cabello Rondón, accessed 19 April 2010) is a Venezuelan politician and current mem ...
. CS-1 met with the nephews at a restaurant of a hotel near
Toussaint Louverture International Airport Toussaint Louverture International Airport ( ht, Ayewopò Entènasyonal Tousen Louvèti, french: Aéroport International Toussaint Louverture) is an international airport in Tabarre, a commune of Port-au-Prince in Haiti. The airport is current ...
and was supposed to pay them $5 million for the cocaine. CS-1 then left into the bathroom and the Haitian Brigade de Lutte contre le Trafic de Stupéfiants (BLTS) and DEA agents raided the restaurant after identifying themselves, apprehending the nephews. The BLTS personnel wore fatigues and vests that read "POLICE" so they would be able to be identified as well. Campos and Flores were later turned over to the DEA and read their
Miranda rights In the United States, the ''Miranda'' warning is a type of notification customarily given by police to criminal suspects in police custody (or in a custodial interrogation) advising them of their right to silence and, in effect, protection ...
after boarding the DEA plane, being flown directly to Westchester County Airport in
White Plains, New York (Always Faithful) , image_seal = WhitePlainsSeal.png , seal_link = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = State , subdivision_name1 = , subdivis ...
in order to face an immediate trial. The two were interviewed separately on the DEA plane. Campo stated on the DEA plane that he was the adopted
step son A stepchild is the offspring of one's spouse, but not one's own offspring, either biologically or through adoption. Stepchildren can come into a family in a variety of ways. A stepchild may be the child of one's spouse from a previous relationshi ...
of President Maduro and that he grew up in the Maduro household while being raised by Flores. He was also shown a picture of a man with a kilo package of cocaine replying "That's me" and when asked what was in the package he said "You know what it is". The two men possessed Venezuelan diplomatic passports but did not have
diplomatic immunity Diplomatic immunity is a principle of international law by which certain foreign government officials are recognized as having legal immunity from the jurisdiction of another country.
according to former head of DEA international operations Michael Vigil. A later raid of Efraín Antonio Campo Flores' "Casa de Campo" mansion and yacht in the Dominican Republic revealed an additional 280 lbs of cocaine and 22 lbs of heroin, with 176 lbs of the drugs found in the home while the remainder was discovered in his yacht. Due to the extradition process, New York courts could not apprehend those who assisted the nephews on their way to Haiti, though a pilot was later arrested. It was also stated by those close to the case that there are more sealed warrants linked to the incident.


Roberto de Jesús Soto García

On 28 October 2016, a Honduran man, Roberto de Jesús Soto García, was arrested in Honduras and extradited to the United States. According to authorities, Soto García was responsible for transporting drug shipments from
Juan Manuel Gálvez International Airport Juan Manuel Gálvez International Airport ( es, link=no, Aeropuerto Internacional Juan Manuel Gálvez) is an international airport located on the island of Roatán, in the Caribbean Sea off the northern coast of Honduras. from DAFIF (effectiv ...
. Soto García provided information about the port and was supposed to take the drugs from the nephews into the United States.


Aircraft pilot

In June 2016, Yazenky Antonio Lamas Rondón, the pilot of the plane which transported the cocaine and the two nephews, was arrested at the
El Dorado International Airport El Dorado International Airport is an international airport serving Bogotá, Colombia and its surrounding areas. The airport is located mostly in the Fontibón district of Bogotá, although it partially extends into the Engativá district and ...
in Bogota, Colombia after the DEA and
Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cr ...
put out a warrant for his arrest. According to the DEA, Lamas Rondón piloted over 100 flights over the span of a decade from Venezuela which trafficked various drugs throughout Latin America. He is also believed to be involved with the Cartel of the Suns, a group of corrupt drug trafficking Venezuelan officials.


Trial

The nephews originally plead not guilty to the charges of conspiring to transport cocaine into the United States, with the two facing up to
life in prison Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...
. In trial papers filed on 1 July 2016, the nephews stated that they were not informed of their rights when detained, attempting to suppress their statements that they made to DEA agents after their arrest. However, on 22 July 2016, their statements made to DEA agents were filed as exhibit by the United States Attorney Office in Manhattan, with the two men confessing to their conspiracy to traffic cocaine into the United States that was supposed to be supplied by the Colombian guerilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The pair hoped to make $20 million through multiple drug shipments. A confidential informant posing as a leader of the Sinaloa cartel confessions testified that Efrain Campo planned to finance Cilia Flores' congressional campaign. On 18 November 2016, the jury reached a verdict finding the two nephews guilty of attempting to traffic drugs into the United States.


Murdered informants

Two informants that observed the nephews were murdered shortly before and after their arrest, raising concerns that the drug trafficking operation was larger than suspected. Two weeks before the nephews were arrested, the Venezuelan known as "Hamudi" who introduced the nephews to CW-1 was murdered by FARC suppliers. Weeks after the arrests in December 2015, CW-1 was murdered as well. It is thought to be that the nephews were not "the brains" of the trafficking attempt but were working under the Cartel of the Suns. The murdering of informants was a possible way to cover possible involvement by Venezuelan officials. In the United States, the punishment for killing a witness is a
federal offense In the United States, a federal crime or federal offense is an act that is made illegal by U.S. federal legislation enacted by both the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives and signed into law by the president. Prosec ...
punishable by up to life in prison or execution.


Media coverage

International media focused on the events surrounding the nephews and their trial while Venezuelan media was largely censored from revealing that the two were related to the President Maduro and his wife. Venezuelan media organizations like Globovisión and ''
Últimas Noticias ''Últimas Noticias'' is a daily newspaper in Venezuela, currently British-owned and characterized by ''The Guardian'' as a "pro-Maduro tabloid". ''Últimas Noticias'' was founded in Caracas on 16 September 1941 after the pro-freedom measures im ...
'' only mentioned that "two Venezuelans" were charged with drug trafficking without showing any relation to the president's family, raising accusations of self-censorship. Social media, which is popular in Venezuela, was used by journalists as a way to allow Venezuelans to bypass censorship and provide updates about the situation surrounding the president's nephews.


Reactions


Academics and scholars

According to drug trafficking expert, Bruce Bagley of the
University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...
, "The nephews are just the tip of the iceberg ... Corruption is rampant in power circles in Venezuela. This case suggests a culture that drug trafficking is routine and daily fare for someone with contacts in the presidential palace", with Bagley further stating that "With their connections, they felt they would skate through ... They made a mistake because when the DEA heard their names they targeted them."


Government of Venezuela

After Maduro's nephews were apprehended by the DEA for the illegal distribution of cocaine on 10 November 2015, Maduro posted a statement on Twitter criticizing "attacks and imperialist ambushes" which was viewed by many media outlets as being directed towards the United States. President Maduro's wife, Cilia Flores, accused the United States of kidnapping her nephews and said that she had proof that they were kidnapped by the DEA. Diosdado Cabello, a senior official in Maduro's government who has been accused of drug trafficking himself, was also quoted as saying the arrests were a "kidnapping" by the United States. Roberto de Jesús Soto Garcia, a Honduran man who provided assistance to the smugglers, has been linked to Venezuela's Vice President Tareck El Aissami. Following the arrest of the nephews,
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. new ...
correspondent
Hannah Dreier Hannah Dreier is an American journalist. She is a ''New York Times'' reporter who specializes in narrative features and investigations. She previously worked at ProPublica, where she was the recipient of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writin ...
was detained by
SEBIN The Bolivarian National Intelligence Service ( es, Servicio Bolivariano de Inteligencia Nacional, SEBIN) is the premier intelligence agency in Venezuela. SEBIN is an internal security force subordinate to the Vice President of Venezuela since 201 ...
agents. She was then interrogated, being threatened with being beheaded in a way like
ISIL An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...
did to James Foley, saying they would release her for a kiss. They later stated that they wanted to exchange Dreier for President Maduro's nephews.


See also

*
Citgo Six The Citgo Six is the name by which six senior executives of Citgo, detained in Venezuela, are known. Citgo is a subsidiary of the state-owned oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA). Overview The executives were arrested on November 21, 2 ...
*
Matthew John Heath Matthew John Heath is a United States citizen who was arrested by the government of Venezuela in September 2020 and subsequently charged with offenses related to terrorism and arms trafficking. Heath is a former member of the U.S. Marine Corps wher ...


References


External links

* {{Crisis in Venezuela, state=collapsed Illegal drug trade in Venezuela Drug policy of the United States Illegal drug trade in the United States Corruption in Venezuela November 2015 events in North America 2015 in Haiti 2015 in Venezuela Venezuelan people imprisoned abroad Political scandals in Venezuela Crisis in Venezuela United States–Venezuela relations Haiti–Venezuela relations Haiti–United States relations