Overview

• Carvajal pleaded guilty on June 25 in Manhattan federal court to four counts including narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation and weapons offenses.
• He led the Cartel de Los Soles as Venezuela’s military intelligence director, collaborating with the FARC to traffic multi-ton cocaine shipments into the United States.
• He was extradited from Spain in 2023 after more than a decade on the run, following a 2019 arrest in Madrid and a failed detention in Aruba.
• Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein will sentence him on October 29, 2025, under federal guidelines mandating at least 50 years in prison and up to life behind bars.
• U.S. authorities view his cooperation as potentially yielding critical intelligence on Venezuelan military corruption, transnational drug networks and foreign espionage activities.