Diosdado Cabello: what the documents say

01

In 2020, a "leader" of the Cartel de los Soles. In 2026, not anymore

The 2020 indictment lists him among the four "leaders and managers of the Cartel de Los Soles". In 2026 that label is gone, but he is not: his name goes from 34 mentions to 39 and he is still charged in all four counts.

Source: Superseding indictment, March 2020 · New York (28 pages)

02

The 5.6-ton DC-9

It is the most specific episode against him in 2020: a U.S.-registered DC-9 jet that left Maiquetía with 5.6 tons of cocaine.

“DIOSDADO CABELLO RONDON and HUGO ARMANDO CARVAJAL BARRIOS, a/k/a "El Pollo," the defendants, worked with other members of the Cartel de Los Soles to coordinate the shipment.”

Source: Superseding indictment, March 2020 · New York (28 pages)

03

The Zetas and the 20-ton containers

The 2026 version adds another front: between 2003 and 2011, while he held official posts, the Zetas worked with Colombian traffickers to send containers from Venezuelan ports to Mexico, with five to six tons of cocaine each and sometimes as much as 20.

Source: S4 superseding indictment, January 2026 · New York (25 pages)

04

What he said

Three weeks after the new indictment was made public, on his show, he answered the fact that the Cartel de los Soles no longer appeared as an organization:

«Eso no puede ser sorpresa para nosotros porque nosotros sabemos que no existe. Sabemos que es una gran mentira.»Diosdado Cabello on his TV show Con el Mazo Dando (January 22, 2026), about the "Cartel de los Soles", three weeks after the new indictment was made public. Our translation: "That can't surprise us, because we know it doesn't exist. We know it is a big lie." · watch