US EditionUS Agent Tried to Bribe Maduro’s Pilot to Divert President’s Plane to Detain Venezuelan Leader: Report
- Edwin Lopez, Homeland Security Investigations agent and attaché in the Dominican Republic, confronted Bitner Villegas at La Isabela executive airport, Santo Domingo, trying to recruit Maduro's pilot to divert the president's plane to U.S. custody.
- A tip to the U.S. Embassy on April 24, 2024 prompted officials to build a federal forfeiture case over two Maduro jets in the Dominican Republic, amid Maduro's 2020 narco-terrorism indictment.
- In private at an airport hangar, Lopez offered Villegas wealth and adoration for secretly ferrying Maduro to U.S. custody, pressing him via encrypted messages including an Aug. 7 U.S. Department of Justice reward link.
- Villegas vanished for days after the exchange, and a birthday post seen by almost 3 million people intensified speculation while he later appeared on a TV program in an air force flight suit.
- As Washington stepped up pressure, officials authorized covert actions inside Venezuela, doubled the $50 million bounty for Maduro, and seized jets in September 2024 and February during Secretary of State Marco Rubio's trip.
120 Articles
120 Articles
U.S. Attempted to Capture Maduro by Bribing His Pilot
The U.S. government secretly attempted to bribe an airplane pilot working for Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, to help capture and turn him in to U.S. custody. That’s according to an investigation by the Associated Press detailing how a longtime U.S. Homeland Security Investigations agent approached the pilot after learning in 2024 that two private jets frequently used to transport Maduro were stationed in the Dominican Republic. The HSI age…
Federal Agent Tried to Convince Venezuelan Pilot to Fly Maduro Into US Territory So He Could be Arrested
President Nicolas Maduro flashes victory signs during Indigenous Day in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Oct 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos) A federal agent tried to convince the personal pilot of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro to fly him into U.S. territory to be captured. News of the year-long effort was reported Tuesday by The Associated Press. According to the report, the agent, Edwin Lopez, engaged in dialogue with the pilot for well ov…
What Nicolás Maduro didn't know was that an American agent had hatched a bold plan to capture the Venezuelan leader. Maduro's own chief pilot would be lured into betraying him. But the plan failed.
Casa Blanca wanted to capture Maduro and, for that, tried to recruit the pilot of the presidential plane, offering him millions of dollars in exchange for the departure of the device. He was loyal to the Venezuelan leader.
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