Venezuela's ex-spy chief pleads guilty to narco-terrorism charges

Venezuela's former head of military intelligence, Hugo Carvajal - also known as "El Pollo", or The Chicken - has pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and narco-terrorism charges in the US.

US officials accused the 65-year-old of forming part of a drug-smuggling organisation made up of high-ranking members of the Venezuelan military.

The guilty plea is the latest twist in Carvajal's demise from feared spymaster to convict via his ignominious arrest in a hideout in Madrid, where he had been spotted despite donning a fake moustache and a wig.

Carvajal, who was a close ally of the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, is thought to hold key information about Chávez's successor, Nicolás Maduro.

Carvajal was part of the Cartel de los Soles (Cartel of the Suns) - named after the suns which feature on the lapels of high-ranking officers in the Venezuelan military - according to a statement released by the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, where Carvajal was due to go on trial in the coming days.

"For years, he and other officials in the Cartel de Los Soles used cocaine as a weapon - flooding New York and other American cities with poison," the statement read.

It added that he partnered with left-wing rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces in neighbouring Colombia, whom he supplied with weapons and whose cocaine shipments to the US via Venezuela he protected.

Carvajal received millions of dollars in payment in exchange, according to US Attorney Jay Clayton.

The fact that Carvajal changed his plea to "guilty" two years after he denied all of the charges brought against him led to speculation he may have reached a deal for a lower sentence in exchange for providing incriminating information about the Maduro's government.

The US charged Maduro with "narco-terrorism" five years ago and has imposed sanctions on him and his inner circle.

As former spy chief, Carvajal is thought to have access to a wealth of material about the current and past Venezuelan governments.

Relations between Carvajal and Maduro soured in 2017, when anti-government protests that Carvajal spoke out in favour of swept the country.

They broke down completely in 2019, when Carvajal urged the military to back opposition leader Juan Guaidó's attempt to overthrow Maduro.

When the military remained loyal to Maduro, Carvajal fled to Spain.

Following several years during which he was on the run, he was finally tracked down to an apartment in Madrid and extradited to the US.