NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Venezuelan politicians, military officials and police were “bought and paid for” by a man on trial on charges of shipping tens of thousands of kilograms of cocaine into the United States, a U.S. prosecutor said yesterday.
In an opening statement at accused trafficker Carlos Orense’s trial in Manhattan, prosecutor Kaylan Lasky said Orense stashed drugs and weapons on a ranch he owned in Venezuela, and paid off officials to ensure that planes and boats carrying his cocaine could depart without detection or inspection.
“The defendant bought and paid for them all with the dirtiest of drug money,” Lasky said. “He was part of a corrupt political system that allowed his drug business to flourish.”
Orense has pleaded not guilty to three counts of narcotics importation conspiracy and criminal weapons possession.
The trial is also expected to include testimony that a former chief executive officer of U.S. refiner Citgo Petroleum – which is owned by state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela – helped Orense launder money in the mid-2000s, according to court records and a lawyer involved in a parallel case.
Citgo declined to comment. Venezuela’s information ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
U.S. accusations of official Venezuelan complicity in the drugs trade have long been a source of tension in the frosty relationship between Washington and the socialist-run OPEC member. President Nicolas Maduro himself was indicted in 2020 on U.S. “narcoterrorism” charges, which he called false and racist.
Two nephews of Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, were convicted in 2016 by a Manhattan jury of conspiring to import cocaine into the United States. They were sentenced to 18 years in prison, but freed last year as part of a prisoner swap deal with Caracas to free seven Americans.
Orense’s lawyers have said the case is built on “rumors” and that there was no direct evidence he bribed officials.
Defense lawyer Jason Foy said in his opening statement that Orense was a successful businessman being falsely accused by former drug traffickers who are cooperating with U.S. prosecutors for payment and in the hopes of being able to remain in the United States.
“Every single witness has a motive to not be truthful,” Foy said.
Prosecutors have said Orense worked closely with a former chief of Venezuela’s military intelligence agency who was indicted alongside Maduro and extradited to the United States from Spain earlier this year.
They did not identify the former chief, but the description matches that of Hugo Carvajal, who pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking charges in July. Carvajal’s lawyer confirmed that prosecutors were referring to his client.