ap news reported on nov. 19, 2016, that a father and son duo played an important part in a cocaine trafficking trial. the trial persecuted the nephew of the first lady of venezuela.




the united states federal government and several other law enforcement agencies paid jose santos-penta an estimated $1 million. they also paid over $100,000 more to his son jose santos-hernandez.the u.s. federal government purchased information from them on drug trafficking.




the two men traveled to several different countries. some of the countries the dea are not welcome. the duo made secret recordings of people allegedly believed to be involved in the illegal drug trade.




one of the nations involved was venezuela, where the santos-pena family recorded two of cilia flores nephews. cilia flores is the wife of the nation<u+2019>s president who was handling a large amount of cocaine.




however, in april 2016, federal agents discovered that the father-son duo was illegally involved in illegal drug trafficking. just as the nephew of the venezuelan first lady was about to go on trial in new york, the duo pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges.




they also admitted to trafficking drugs while they were assisting the dea of building the venezuelan case last fall. however, prosecutors continue their case against cilia flores<u+2019> two nephews, although jose santos-hernandez did not testify at their trial.




written by john a. federico




edited by cathy milne




source:




ap: latin america father-son informants trafficked drugs while on us payroll




featured image courtesy of julio c<u+00e9>sar mesa<u+2019>s flickr page <u+2013> creative commons license duo , homeless veterans
duo played a vital role in venezuelan drug trafficking case
john federico