A close associate of President Nicolas Maduro, detained. Venezuela collaborated with the US to capture him

Alex Saab, a wealthy Colombian-Venezuelan businessman long considered Maduro's front man, was fired from his post in the Venezuelan government two weeks after US forces captured Maduro. On Wednesday morning, the 54-year-old businessman was detained in a luxury house in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, according to The Guardian.

There was no immediate confirmation of the arrests from the Venezuelan government, but a US official said Saab was detained as a result of cooperation between US and Venezuelan authorities.

Raúl Gorrín, the billionaire who owns the Globovisión television channel, was also detained at the same address.

Intelligence sources told Colombian radio station Caracol that Saab was arrested around 2 a.m. and is being held in the intelligence detention center.

However, Saab's lawyer, Luigi Giuliano, described reports of his client's detention as “fake news” and told Colombian newspaper El Espectador that he “feels good in Caracas”. A representative for Gorrín told the New York Times that he was free Wednesday night.

Who is Alex Saab?

Saab has become known as one of the most important financial operators of Maduro's political movement.

In 2019, Saab was indicted in the US for being part of a corruption ring that transferred about $350 million in Venezuelan government funds to accounts it owned or controlled.

In 2020, Saab was arrested after landing in Cape Verde while en route to Iran and, after a long legal battle, was extradited to the US in 2021 to stand trial for money laundering. He has been the subject of sanctions in the UK for looting resources from public programs meant to feed and shelter poor Venezuelans in order to enrich himself.

However, in December 2023, Saab, who denied the allegations against him, was controversially released in a prisoner swap deal brokered by the Biden administration.

He returned to Venezuela, and in 2024 Maduro appointed his ally minister of industry, a post from which he was ousted on January 16 by Maduro's former number two, the country's interim leader, Delcy Rodríguez.