Why drug case against Venezuela’s ‘first nephews’ looks weaker

[Judi Lynn]

Why drug case against Venezuela’s ‘first nephews’ looks weaker
September 23, 2016 5:00 PM

By Franco Ordoñez
[e-mail]

WASHINGTON —

The once “slam-dunk” drug case against the nephews of the Venezuelan first family is looking more fragile after a two-day hearing and subsequent court filings that reveal prosecutors’ key confidential sources are tainted with credibility problems.

When Efrain Campo, 29, and Francisco Flores, 30, were charged last year with conspiring to smuggle 800 kilograms of cocaine into the United States, the federal government touted what it said was a strong case: undercover recordings of a massive drug deal, alleged confessions from the two defendants and informants who later said the cousins had done the deal to make money for the congressional campaign of their aunt, first lady Cilia Flores.

But now the U.S. Attorney’s Office is facing questions about their case: whether the so-called voluntary confessions were in fact coerced, how the informants got in touch with the defendants and the propriety of accepting the word of informants, who acknowledge improper conduct while receiving money from the United States, including snorting cocaine and hiring prostitutes. There are questions also about how much the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration knew about what its informants were doing.

“If I were them, I would be nervous,” David Weinstein, a former federal prosecutor who oversaw the narcotics division at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami, said of the prosecutors. “The way things are going, the case is not getting better. It’s getting weaker.”

More:
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/national-security/article103751506.html#storylink=cpy

LBN:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1014

[Marksman_91]

1. Please stop pretending that they're not gonna be charged and jailed

Maybe not as big of a sentence as they originally wanted, but they're guilty at least on one account of drug trafficking. Maduro and the rest of the PSUV leadership are nothing but drug lords. Hopefully once they're out of power, a real investigation can be carried out which will uncover all of their crimes, including human rights abuses

[Judi Lynn]

2. The nephews and human rights abuses? Izzatso? Where'd they get their training? Carapintadas? n/t

[Marksman_91]

3. No, I'm referring to Maduro and the whole Chavista combo that rules the country

AT the very least they'd be charged with treason and trampling over the constitution. But I'm sure more shit will be uncovered once they leave power, especially when more details surface of how they treated political prisoners. There's a reason why they're clinging so desperately to power, to the point of not wanting any more elections to happen, especially after their colossal loss last December. They know that once they lose the presidency and the courts, it's open season against them. Where do you think they might be thinking of fleeing to when that happens? Bolivia? Ecuador? Nicaragua? I don't even think Cuba would accept them considering they're now opening up more to the US