The Colombian businessman Alex Saab, a close associate of Nicolás Maduro, changed his statement before a federal court in Miami this Tuesday in a money laundering case, in a move that could make him a key witness against the Venezuelan former president in his upcoming drug trafficking trial scheduled for 2027.
Saab appeared before federal Judge Kathleen Williams in Miami for a change of plea hearing, as reported by Reuters. This type of hearing typically means that a defendant who had previously pleaded not guilty is now acknowledging their guilt. The exact details of the agreement — which charges it covers and whether it includes any conditions or obligations — were not immediately disclosed.
The accusation states that Saab stole millions of dollars from the subsidized food distribution program known as CLAP, intended for Venezuelans in need, and transferred part of those funds to bank accounts in the United States.
Saab had declared himself innocent in July, two months after being extradited from Venezuela as part of the government’s attempt to distance itself from figures of the previous regime.
This is the second federal criminal case Saab is facing in the United States. The first, initiated in 2019, accused him of diverting approximately 350 million dollars from Venezuela through a bribery scheme also linked to the CLAP program.
Detained in Cape Verde in 2020 and extradited the following year, he managed to gain his freedom in December 2023 when then-President Joe Biden granted him a full pardon in exchange for the release of 10 Americans held in Venezuela.
The landscape changed dramatically after the capture of Maduro by U.S. special forces in Caracas on January 3, 2026.
The new Venezuelan government dismissed Saab as Minister of Industry and arrested him in February. Venezuela handed him over to the United States in May 2026, and he arrived at the Opa-locka Executive Airport in Miami-Dade, escorted by DEA agents.
The strategic significance of the change of declaration goes far beyond the case in Miami. According to a report by The New York Times a day before the hearing, if Saab reached a plea agreement, he could testify against Maduro in his drug trafficking trial.
Maduro remains held without bail at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center, charged with narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, and weapons-related offenses. He has pleaded not guilty and has argued sovereign immunity, a claim that legal experts consider difficult to support given that Washington has not recognized his government since 2019.
Saab, who was a confidential source for the DEA between 2018 and 2019 and has direct knowledge of the financial and operational aspects of chavismo, represents a highly valuable asset for the prosecution. His testimony could shed light on the internal mechanisms of corruption within the Venezuelan regime in front of the court that will judge Maduro.
The trial of the former Venezuelan president is scheduled for June 1, 2027 before federal judge Alvin Hellerstein in New York.
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