The news in the Venezuelan Twitter sphere last night was the arrest in Houston (unconfirmed by official sources as of this writing) of Roberto Rincon and Abraham Shiera.
Journalist Casto Ocando said on Twitter that Rincon had been arrested for money laundering in association with Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), adding that members of a «Homeland Security’s elite unit of financial of crimes had been investigating Rincon for years» prior to his arrest.
Sources consulted confirmed, extra officially, that Rincon and Shiera had indeed been arrested.
Journalist Cesar Batiz did a thorough profile on Rincon and his business empire.
Further leaks to this site reveal an interesting detail: right after Hugo Carvajal was arrested in Aruba by the DEA, Rincon (an long time partner of Carvajal) started traveling on a diplomatic passport, no 0841947189, as shown in picture (below). Furthermore, when Dutch authorities in Aruba decided to release Carvajal, (since 2008 in OFAC kingpins list for «materially assisting the narcotics trafficking activities of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a narco-terrorist organization») on some technicality (more on pressure from chavista regime) Rincon’s plane (N9GY) took Carvajal back to Venezuela.
And who do we see, as a regular passenger since Feb 2010 of Rincon’s N9GY jet? None other than Abraham Shiera, also arrested with Rincon. For a backgrounder on both Rincon and Shiera (and other respected members of the chavista Boliburgeoisie) and their virtual spin doctor of choice, Setty has a thorough investigation here.
Venezuelan immigration records show Rincon and Shiera using a fleet of N-plate jets for their travels: N999GY, N91GY, N9GY, N723AA, N200CV, N604RR, N112WJ, N840TC, N713SA, N900DL, N727AT, N556HJ, and N245MS. Lots of trip between Maracaibo and Bogota, Aruba, Panama, Ft Lauderdale, and Miami.
Tomado de Roberto Rincon arrested in Houston for money laundering