Nephews of Venezuela’s First Lady Confess to Cocaine Smuggling
Cilia Flores’ nephews were arrested in Haiti last November and face charges of conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the United States.
El Progreso, Honduras July 26, 2016 (venezuelanalysis.com) – According to recently filed US court records, Venezuelan congresswoman and First Lady Cilia Flores’ two nephews, Franqui Francisco Flores de Freitas and Efrain Antonio Campo Flores, have confessed to attempted cocaine smuggling, reports Reuters.
Flores and Campos were detained after a US Drug Enforcement Agency’s (DEA) sting operation November 12, 2015 in Port Au Prince, Haiti, allegedly in possession of approximately 800 kilograms of cocaine.
The latest court documents were filed Friday at a federal court in Manhattan and include DEA summaries of the interviews conducted en route from Haiti to New York last November.
The prosecutors have used the summaries to file a motion against Flores and Campos’s request to dismiss these statements on the grounds that the two were not informed of their right to remain silent under US law and report that they were coerced after they were taken into custody.
DEA records state that Campos relayed the pair’s plans to retrieve cocaine from an individual who allegedly obtained cocaine from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
According to documents obtained by Reuters, when Flores was asked his reasons for involvement, he expressed: “To make money.” Records state that Flores anticipated $USD 560,000 from the first shipment totalling $USD 5 million.
Prosecutors allege that two were expecting that their drug shipments would reach upwards of $USD 20 million. The prosecution also accuse the two for working with others in Venezuela and Honduras to import the drugs into the US.
Campos and Flores have been held without bail since November.
Additionally, Julio Borges, Venezuelan National Assembly member for the MUD opposition bloc announced Tuesday that the legislative body’s Domestic Affairs Commission is set to discuss Campos and Flores’ case this Thursday.
Socialist Mayor of Caracas’ Libertador Municipality, Jorge Rodríguez, referred to the case in a press conference Monday, suggesting that the arrest of Flores’ two nephews represents “a vulgar kidnapping of these yong people [Flores and Campos] to discredit the President and the revolution.”