Spain: Former spymaster wanted by US missing

The whereabouts of a former Venezuelan spymaster sought by the U.S. on drug trafficking charges are unknown to Spanish authorities, officers told The Associated Press Wednesday.

On Friday, a Spanish court reversed an earlier ruling that tossed an American arrest warrant for Maj. Gen. Hugo Carvajal and said the United States’ extradition request should proceed.

{mosads}Maria Dolores de Arguelles, an attorney for Carvajal, said her client should not be considered a fugitive, noting that the defense has not been formally notified of the ruling allowing his extradition, nor has an arrest warrant or court summons been issued, according to the AP.

While Carvajal has been freed on bail, he is restricted from leaving the Madrid area and must check in at the court every 15 days and his passport has been confiscated.

Spanish prosecutors successfully appealed a decision in mid-September by the National Court that barred his extradition to the U.S., where he is wanted on the trafficking charges. The U.S. has sought his extradition since late March, when he fled to Spain after publicly endorsing U.S.-backed efforts to depose Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, according to the AP.

Prosecutors in New York have accused Carvajal of being part of a group of senior Venezuelan officials they say “flooded” the U.S, with drugs, including a 5.6-ton cocaine shipment seized in Mexico in 2006 by the Drug Enforcement Administration, according to the news service.