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.
90 Articles
90 Articles
A U.S. agent had a bold proposal for Nicolás Maduro's chief pilots: he just had to secretly redirect the Venezuelan president's plane to a place where the U.S. authorities could arrest the leader.
The Donald Trump administration was close to capturing Nicolás Maduro thanks to the work of federal agent Edwin López, who exchanged messages with the Venezuelan president's pilot.
US Tried to Flip Maduro's Pilot in a Secret Sting
The US recently tried to recruit Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's top pilot to help capture the embattled leader, according to an in-depth report by the AP . The plan began when an informant approached the US Embassy in the Dominican Republic, claiming to have information about planes used by Maduro. Edwin...
U.S. Officer Sought To Convince Maduro's Pilot To Divert His Flight So He'd Be Taken By American Forces, Report Claims
A federal officer reportedly sought to convince the chief pilot of Venezuela's authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro to divert one of his flights to a place where he could be apprehended by U.S.
It reads like the plot of a spy thriller: an American CIA agent attempted to have Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro kidnapped by his own pilot. The Associated Press revealed details of an operation involving secret messages, millions of dollars, and a pilot who stood his ground against American pressure.
A U.S. Department of Homeland Security official tried to recruit the main pilot of Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro to take the country's leader to a place where the U.S. could arrest him, an agency that was shared with current and former U.S. officials, as well as with a representative of the Venezuelan opposition.
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