World

Venezuelan Maduro ally, deported to US

By AAP Newswire

May 17, 2026

Nicolas Maduro, left, and Alex Saab — Alex Saab was long described by US officials as Maduro's "bag man". -AP

Venezuelan official ‌Alex Saab, a Colombian-Venezuelan businessman and ‌ally of former President Nicolas ‌Maduro, has been deported to the United States.

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‌Saab ⁠was arrested in Caracas in February during a joint operation by US and Venezuelan authorities, according ⁠to ‌a US law enforcement official at the time.

The Colombian-born ‌Saab was previously detained in Cape Verde in 2020 and held in the US on bribery ‌charges. He was granted clemency in 2023 in exchange for the release of Americans detained in Venezuela.

The Venezuelan government in a statement on Saturday did not explicitly say where it had deported Alex Saab but said its decision was based on several ongoing criminal investigations in the US.

The Associated Press reported in February that federal prosecutors have been digging for month into Saab's role in an alleged bribery conspiracy involving Venezuelan government contracts to import food.

Saab, 54, amassed a fortune through Venezuelan government contracts.

But the Colombian-born businessman, long described by US officials as Maduro's "bag man", fell out of favour with the country's new leadership that took power following the US ouster of the Venezuelan president and could be asked to testify against his former protector.

with AP