U.S. judge rules against Venezuelan ‘first nephews,’ saying ‘confessions’ admissible | McClatchy Washington Bureau

A federal judge has delivered a stinging blow to the nephews of the first family of Venezuela, ruling that their alleged confessions of a large cocaine deal can be introduced during their trial.

In a 24-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Paul Crotty of the Southern District of New York ruled Wednesday that the statements of cousins Efrain Campo and Francisco Flores to U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents had been taken in accordance with U.S. law. Campo and Flores’ aunt is married to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Special Agent “Gonzalez testified credibly that each defendant read the Spanish-language Miranda forms, each indicated he understood, and then signed,” Crotty wrote in his ruling, referring to the DEA agent who’d taken the statements. “Mr. Campo Flores even commented when asked if he understood the form that he was an attorney.”

The dramatic ruling is a significant win for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which looked weakened after a two-day hearing last month raised questions about whether the so-called voluntary confessions had been coerced and whether two of its star confidential sources should be believed.

Campo, 29, and Flores, 30, have been charged with conspiring to smuggle 800 kilograms of cocaine into the United States in the politically charged case, which raises questions about the role of Venezuela’s elite in drug smuggling. The trial is expected to begin Nov. 7.

The Obama administration, which said the Venezuelan government had “failed demonstrably” to adhere to international counternarcotics agreements, has stepped up its enforcement against alleged traffickers in Venezuela’s inner circle, including indicting the Venezuelan justice minister, Gen. Nestor Reverol.

Maduro has called the U.S. drug charges a conspiracy. His wife, Cilia Flores, is a lawyer and leader in the General Assembly. She’s accused U.S. agents of kidnapping her nephews.

Crotty’s ruling reinforces the prosecution’s case, which includes the alleged confessions to a complex plot to smuggle cocaine into the United States.

According to their statements, Campo said they planned to get the cocaine from Colombian rebels. Asked why he got involved in the deal, Flores said: “To make money,” according to prosecution documents. Flores said the deal was worth $5 million, of which he’d expected to get $560,000, the documents say.

“Campo further stated that he could’ve gotten the drugs out of the airport very easily because of who he was and because of the access he has at the airport,” DEA agents wrote in a report detailing the alleged confession. The airport referred to is the Simon Bolivar International Airport in Maiquetia, outside Caracas.

In last month’s two-day hearing, defense lawyers revealed serious credibility issues for two of the prosecution’s key confidential sources, who helped to strike a deal with the defendants to smuggle the cocaine. And federal prosecutors have yet to make a hard connection that links the nephews with the presidency.

The defense argued that the confidential sources had destroyed evidence that would have helped their case, including recordings where they explain they “had no capacity or ability to execute” the plans. Campo and Flores said they had been “lured” by the informants who contacted them about a lucrative narcotics deal and that the informants had said they would supply the planes, the cocaine and the buyer.

With his ruling, Crotty is essentially saying he’ll allow a jury to determine the credibility of the statements and recordings.

There is no dispute that destruction of evidence is a serious charge, Crotty wrote.

“But that is not what happened here,” he wrote. “Recordings are not missing because the confidential sources or anyone else destroyed them, but rather because they were never made.”