The Colombian-Venezuelan national, Jesús Alfredo Vergara Betancourt, was arrested at Madrid’s Barajas airport (Spain) as part of an investigation by the European Union’s police agency (Europol). Vergara arrived in Madrid on a commercial flight from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Jesús Alfredo Vergara, director of Marina Desarrollos 1405 C.A. and owner of the Lala Foundation, is known in Venezuela as “the king of junk” or “Lalo.” He has conducted business through his company with Venezuelan government entities such as the Venezuelan Corporation of Guyana (CVG), Petroleum of Venezuela (PDVSA), and the defunct National Superintendency of Cryptoassets (Sunacrip).
Vergara Betancourt was last arrested in Venezuela on June 13, 2020, by agents from the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM) along with associates Doménico Antonio Bruni Zerpa, Julio Cuesta Eisler, and Néstor Arias. They were transferred to a Caracas court to face charges before being released after being accused of aggravated fraud and conspiracy.
Businessman Jesús Alfredo Vergara Betancourt, head of the Lala Foundation and owner of the Vergara Group Metals holding, has been detained at the #DGCIM in #CiudadGuayana since the night of Saturday #13Jun.#Bolívar#Venezuela pic.twitter.com/xnlO245Rjr
— Germán Dam (@GEDV86) June 14, 2020
El Pitazo reported that the arrest resulted from a long-standing investigation dating back to 2012 due to failures in payment from his companies (Farmacia Lala and SMS Casting de Venezuela) to institutions with which he maintained financial ties, such as CVG and PDVSA. After that incident, Jesús Vergara Betancourt was reportedly in hiding—rumored to have fled the country multiple times—until his name surfaced in connection with the PDVSA-Crypto case as he was wanted for involvement in the faction of this scheme operating within CVG that had yet to be captured.
According to journalist Casto Ocando, the 73rd Prosecutor’s Office of the Metropolitan Area of Caracas, responsible for crimes against Money Laundering, Financial and Economic Crimes, issued requests for Vergara’s search through Interpol and Europol, with the latter agency ultimately executing his arrest. Other names sought in this group—which have yet to be confirmed captured—include: Aleczander Añez, Andrés Hernández Vergara (nephew of Jesús Vergara), Carlos Julio Vergara (father of Jesús Vergara), Jorge Añez, Jorge Dellan (cousin of the former president of the Industrial Bank of Venezuela), Jorge Infante Laya, Miguel Leonardo La Forgia Serrano, Pedro Ferrer, Richard Antoun, Roberto Añez, and Ronal Jesús López Hernández.
In December 2011, a note titled: “The Real Aluminum Mafias in Venezuela” authored by Harrison Ashman accused Jesús Alfredo Vergara of allegedly leading a cartel known as the “Narcos Alumineros” of the Orinoco Cartel. This cartel would supposedly use aluminum as a front to legitimize capital. Ashman indicated in his report that Jesús Vergara used aluminum bars to smuggle drugs out of Venezuela. He also added that Vergara boasted of operating from Guayana, exerting total control over his illicit activities in the area. Furthermore, he accused Vergara of owning a fleet of vessels supposedly used to transport drugs. According to Ashman, Vergara’s bank accounts could exceed 200 million dollars deposited in tax havens.