A businessman wanted for years in the US for allegedly bribing Venezuelan officials has been taken into custody, the US Department of Justice confirmed. Alvaro Pulido faced indictment in Miami federal court in 2019 and again in 2021 as part of a corruption investigation tied to his longtime business partner, Alex Saab, who had close ties to ousted Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro.
Pulido was accused of paying bribes to top Venezuelan officials in exchange for lucrative state contracts. The US Drug Enforcement Administration and the State Department had jointly offered a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to his arrest, signaling the priority placed on locating him.
The investigation connected Pulido to Saab, whose relationship with the Maduro government made the case part of broader US scrutiny of corruption networks within Venezuela's leadership. Pulido's capture follows years of being at large and represents a win for US law enforcement agencies pursuing financial crimes linked to Venezuelan government officials.