Maduro ally Alex Saab appears in Miami Court after Venezuela deports him

Added: 2026-05-20

[00:00:00]And now at 5:00, one of the closest allies of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro appears today in Miami in federal court. Alex Saab, who arrived at Opa-locka Airport this weekend after having been deported by Venezuela, now faces renewed criminal charges here in the United States. CBS News Miami's Ivon Taylor is your reporter outside of federal court in downtown Miami with what his attorneys had to say. Ivon.

[00:00:23]And let me just start by saying this is not the first time that Maduro's ally faces criminal charges in a federal court. German Loera, the Colombian-born businessman, this time is accused of conspiracy to launder money instruments, bribery of public officials, and misappropriation of funds. We asked his attorneys to elaborate more on this accusation, but they said very little.

[00:00:49]No comment.

[00:00:50]Attorney Neil and Joseph Schuster walked out of federal court barely answering any questions about their client, Alex Saab. Is it Is it one count only that he faces?

[00:01:02]Yeah, the the it's unsealed. They are defending 54-year-old Colombian businessman who became Venezuelan and was an ally of Nicolas Maduro. He arrived at Opa-locka Airport this weekend after being deported by interim president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguez.

[00:01:17]We We expect to be representing Mr. Saab throughout this case. Saab, described by US officials as Maduro's bagman, may be asked to testify against his former protector, who is waiting trial on drug charges in Manhattan after being captured in Caracas in a US military raid in January. They were partners in crime. Ernesto Ackerman is the president of the independent Venezuelan-American Citizens Organization in South Florida.

[00:01:45]He will save his skin telling the United States everything he knows in order to reduce whatever jail time he needs to spend.

[00:01:56]Saab previously spent time in US custody before being pardoned in 2023 as part of a prisoner swap. He then returned to Venezuela. In this video you see him once he was greeted by Nicolas Maduro, his wife Celia, and now interim president Delcy Rodriguez.

[00:02:14]Rodriguez is the one who demoted him from a government position, and over the weekend she handed him in to the United States.

[00:02:23]And Alex Saab will stay in custody in a federal prison on until June 24th. He will be arraigned here at 10:00 a.m.

[00:02:32]Coming up at 6:00 p.m. more on his indictment. We're live in downtown Miami. Ivan Taylor, CBS News, Miami.