SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A judge in Aruba is expected to rule today whether the highest-ranking Venezuelan official ever arrested on a U.S. warrant will remain in jail pending an extradition request.
Hugo Carvajal was arrested Thursday upon arriving at Aruba's airport and is being sought by U.S. authorities on drug trafficking charges.
Attorney Chris Lejuez told The Associated Press in a phone interview Friday that he plans to seek diplomatic immunity for his client. Carvajal was appointed in January as consul to Aruba, but local prosecutors said he had not yet been accredited and therefore does not have diplomatic immunity.
Lejuez said Carvajal denies all charges against him, including conspiring to distribute cocaine in the U.S. to support Marxist rebels in Colombia.
U.S. prosecutors have 60 days to formalize their extradition request.
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