Hugo Carvajal, the former head of Venezuela’s military intelligence, has left Spain in accordance with a High Court extradition decision, according to his attorney and a court source, who spoke to Reuters on Wednesday. Carvajal is wanted by the US on drug trafficking accusations.

Carvajal is anticipated to arrive in the country in the afternoon, according to his attorney Zach Margulis-Ohnuma, and may make his initial court appearance later on Wednesday or more likely on Thursday.

On Tuesday, the Spanish court ordered Carvajal’s immediate extradition after the European Court of Human Rights last week rejected his last attempt to avoid being sent to the United States.

Nicknamed ‘El Pollo’, the chicken, Carvajal – who was late President Hugo Chavez’s eyes and ears within Venezuela’s military for more than a decade – had been in Spanish custody since he was arrested in September 2021 in Madrid.

The United States in 2020 accused Carvajal of drug trafficking, along with more than a dozen other high-ranking Venezuelan officials, including President Nicolas Maduro. Carvajal has denied supporting cocaine trafficking to the United States.