A U.S. judge on Tuesday rejected a bid by a retired Venezuelan general to dismiss drug trafficking charges against him on the basis of foreign sovereign immunity, saying the doctrine does not apply to a "rogue state."
Cliver Alcala in 2020 was charged with four counts of drugs and weapons crimes. U.S. prosecutors say he participated in a "narco-terrorism" conspiracy in which senior Venezuelan government officials conspired with the FARC Colombian rebel group to ship cocaine to the United States.
Alcala's attorney, Cesar de Castro, said in Manhattan federal court that because Alcala was a uniformed military officer at the time of the alleged conspiracy, any action he took would have been in his official capacity and thus could not be prosecuted in the United States.
