Maduro-linked fugitive, 62, is taken into US custody after years on the run with $10m bounty on his head

From the Newshound archive · first published 12 October 2026.

Alvaro Pulido Vargas, a Colombian-born businessman indicted twice by US federal prosecutors, was arrested by a Homeland Security Task Force operation and is due to appear in a Miami federal court on Tuesday. He is accused of funnelling billions in Venezuelan government bribe money through US banks to hide profits stolen from food, medicine and housing programmes meant for ordinary Venezuelans. The DEA, FBI and Homeland Security all pursued him across borders for years, with the State Department offering a $10 million reward for information leading to his capture.

Attorney General Todd Blanche accused Pulido of showing 'a blatant disregard to the Venezuelan people by corrupting government programs intended to provide critical food, medicine, and housing for personal enrichment.'

Pulido was previously convicted of drug trafficking in Italy in 1997 under an alias, German Enrique Rubio Salas, and was arrested in Venezuela in 2023 during a PDVSA anti-corruption drive.

His capture comes as acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez faces internal pressure to resist the Trump administration's push to hand over Maduro-era insiders wanted in the US.