Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios, known as “El Pollo,” led Venezuela’s military intelligence services under Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro before his extradition to the United States in 2023. His former Spanish defence lawyer, Nielson de Souza Vilela, 40, was found dead on Thursday, 12 November 2026, in the storage room of the Gran Vía building where he lived, The Objective reported. Authorities had not disclosed the cause of death. Antena 3 reported that police sources were examining suicide as one possibility.
Vilela represented Carvajal during proceedings in Spain. Carvajal was detained there from 2021 until his extradition to the United States on 19 July 2023, following a U.S. request. He was sent to face proceedings in the Southern District of New York over alleged offences involving cocaine imports, narcoterrorism and firearms, including activity prosecutors said benefited Colombia’s Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
Carvajal pleaded guilty on 25 June 2025 to all four charges against him, including conspiring to import cocaine into the United States and conspiring to commit narcoterrorism for the benefit of the FARC. The Objective reported that sentencing was initially scheduled for October 2025, then moved to February 2026 before being postponed again. Reports attributed the delays to his cooperation with U.S. authorities.
Sources close to Carvajal told the outlet that he had provided details about alleged Venezuelan government funding for left-wing leaders and parties in several countries, including Spain. The claims remain attributed to people in his circle.
The Objective also reported that on 18 March the U.S. agency Homeland Security Investigations gave Spain’s UDEF police unit data from the phone of Rodolfo Reyes Rojas, a former majority shareholder in Plus Ultra. The communications allegedly referred to efforts to secure a €53 million public rescue granted to the airline by the Government.
The material was added to proceedings before National Court judge José Luis Calama and helped form the basis for José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero being named as a suspect on 18 May. Zapatero denies involvement in the rescue. Calama has extended the investigation into the Plus Ultra rescue until 28 May 2027. The inquiry examines alleged influence-peddling and the circumstances surrounding the state aid. A separate National Court inquiry into Transport Ministry awards worth €537.2 million was covered in RUSSPAIN.COM's earlier report.
Sources close to Carvajal also compared Vilela’s death with that of Juan Carlos Márquez Cabrera, a former senior PDVSA official, in 2019. Márquez had agreed to cooperate with the National Court’s investigation into the business dealings of former Spanish ambassador to Venezuela Raúl Morodo and his son Alejo. His business partner found his body in an office in San Sebastián de los Reyes days later.
The investigation concerned at least €4.5 million in payments from PDVSA to companies linked to Alejo Morodo. In December 2024, the National Court sentenced Raúl Morodo to 10 months in prison and Alejo to two years after they reached an agreement with prosecutors over income concealed from the tax authorities.
