Hugo Carvajal

Profile

Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios (b. 1960), nicknamed "El Pollo" ("The Chicken"), was for more than a decade the head of Venezuela's Military Counterintelligence Directorate (DGCIM/DIM) and a close adviser to President Hugo Chavez. In 2019 he broke with Maduro and backed Juan Guaido; after years on the run, he was captured in a Madrid apartment in September 2021.[bbc-2025-06-26-carvajal-plea]

Charges and extradition

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York charged him with leading an organization within the Cartel de los Soles that allegedly partnered Venezuelan military officers with FARC operatives to ship cocaine into the United States. Among the evidence, prosecutors allege that Carvajal used his office in 2006 to coordinate the smuggling of 5,600 kilograms (12,300 pounds) of cocaine on a jet from Venezuela to Mexico, receiving millions of dollars in bribes.[bbc-2025-06-26-carvajal-plea][doj-2020-03-26-indictment]

On 13 July 2023 the European Court of Human Rights denied his request to block extradition; on 19 July 2023 he was extradited from Spain to the United States. He pleaded not guilty at his first Manhattan arraignment.[bbc-2025-06-26-carvajal-plea]

Guilty plea (2025)

On 25 June 2025, one week before the trial was scheduled to begin, Carvajal reversed his plea and admitted guilt on all four counts: narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, weapons conspiracy and machine-gun possession. Federal sentencing guidelines call for a mandatory minimum of 50 years to a maximum of life in prison.[bbc-2025-06-26-carvajal-plea][courtlistener-2025-carvajal-docket]

His attorneys say no formal cooperation agreement was offered by prosecutors, but the change of plea opened speculation about a future deal. A 2025 letter addressed to President Trump offered information on the Venezuelan government. His sentencing hearings have been postponed several times, fuelling the hypothesis that he could become a star witness in the case against Maduro.[courtlistener-2025-carvajal-docket]

Reference status

Carvajal is currently detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, the same facility that held Maduro after the 2026 capture operation. He has not yet been sentenced.[bbc-2025-06-26-carvajal-plea]