Cabo Verde and the Extradition of Alex Saab

Abstract

This note briefly describes certain aspects of the extradition litigation surrounding Alex Saab, who is accused by the United States of being one of the Maduro regime's top money launderers. Saab was arrested in Cabo Verde in June 2020, during a refueling stop between Caracas and Tehran. He (and Venezuela on his behalf) has argued that he has diplomatic immunity and was unlawfully detained. The United States does not have an extradition treaty with Cabo Verde; instead, the request was based on the U.N. Convention on Transnational Organized Crime. After sixteen months of litigation that featured an unprecedented pressure campaign by Saab and the Maduro regime on Cabo Verde's government and judiciary, he was extradited to the U.S. and is currently facing trial in the Southern District of Florida.

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Keywords: extradition, money laundering, Cabo Verde, Venezuela, immunity, diplomacy