Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro’s alleged billionaire “bagman” was extradited to the US on Saturday, less than three years after he was pardoned by President Joe Biden.

Alex Saab, 54, a Colombian-Venezuelan businessman described by US officials as a close ally to Maduro was arrested in Caracas during a joint US-Venezuelan operation in February, according to a US law enforcement official.

On Saturday, Venezuela’s migration agency, SAIME, said that Saab was deported to the US to faces charges for “notorious” crimes he had allegedly committed.

His arrest came more than five months after the capture of Maduro, 63, by US Special Forces in a daring military raid.

Saab was described as a “Colombian citizen” in a press release by Venezuela’s Ministry of Justice shared on Instagram on Saturday.

“The deportation was ordered considering that the aforementioned Colombian citizen is involved in the commission of various crimes in the United States of America, as is public knowledge and widely reported,” the statement continued.

Venezuela’s constitution prohibits the extradition of its citizens, leading to speculation on Saturday that Saab may have been stripped of his citizenship to allow the deportation to take place, the New York Times reported.

A provision in a 1922 treaty between Washington and Caracas may also allow exceptions.

Saab was previously detained in Cape Verde en route to Iran in 2020 on bribery charges after the US alleged that the Colombian-born businessman had siphoned $350 million out of Venezuela.

He was released under Biden in 2023 in a controversial deal in exchange for the release of 10 Americans detained in Venezuela.

While that pardon was focused on a specific 2019 indictment over unbuilt low-income housing, Saab still faces active federal investigations over alleged bribery conspiracies involving Venezuelan food import contracts.

Saab could now provide US authorities with additional evidence to strengthen their criminal case against Maduro, who, along with his wife Cilia Flores, is being held in custody in New York.

The couple both deny the criminal charges against them, which include conspiracy to commit narcoterrorism and import cocaine.

US prosecutors allege that Saab controls some of Maduro’s funds.

Saab’s arrest and deportation suggest a new level of collaboration between American and Venezuelan law enforcement under the country’s acting President Delcy Rodriguez.

Rodriguez, who previously served as Maduro’s Vice President, is targeting figures who kept the leftist in power for over a decade.

With Post wires.