By The Midtown Times | Adapted from reporting by Joshua Goodman (AP); additional reporting by Regina Garcia Cano (AP) in Caracas
MIAMI — A veteran U.S. Homeland Security Investigations attaché quietly courted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s chief pilot in a bid to steer the president’s jet to a location where American authorities could arrest him on federal drug-trafficking charges, according to reporting by the Associated Press’ Joshua Goodman.
The pitch
At a discreet meeting inside a Dominican Republic airport hangar in April 2024, the agent, Edwin F. Lopez, a former U.S. Army Ranger then posted to the U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo, urged the pilot to covertly divert Maduro’s aircraft to a site where U.S. officers could take him into custody. In return, the pilot would be “made very rich,” Lopez said, per AP’s account. The pilot, identified as Gen. Bitner Villegas, left noncommittal but shared his phone number — and over the next 16 months, Lopez continued messaging him on encrypted apps, even after retiring from government service in July 2025.
How the operation began
The approach followed a tip delivered to the U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo claiming two of Maduro’s executive jets were undergoing maintenance at La Isabela airport, work that would likely violate U.S. sanctions. Investigators linked the aircraft (a Dassault Falcon 2000EX and a Falcon 900EX) to the Venezuelan government and learned that five Venezuelan pilots, including Villegas, had been sent to retrieve them.
With approvals from superiors and Dominican officials, Lopez and colleagues interviewed the pilots one by one. When Villegas sat down, he eventually acknowledged flying both Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro, showed photos, and discussed military sites he had visited, according to AP’s sources. Lopez then made the recruitment pitch.
Seizures and public pressure
While attempting to win over Villegas, U.S. officials pursued forfeiture cases against the jets for sanctions violations. One aircraft, registered to a shell company, was seized in September 2024; the second was seized in February 2025during Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s first overseas trip in that role. Lopez publicly briefed Rubio at the airport, calling the plane a “treasure trove of intelligence,” including crew lists and movement data.
Caracas denounced the seizures as “theft.”
A harder U.S. line — and a raised bounty
Since returning to the White House, President Donald Trump has intensified pressure on Maduro, deploying U.S. forces to the Caribbean to interdict alleged smuggling operations and, this month, authorizing CIA covert actions inside Venezuela, AP reports. Washington also doubled the reward for Maduro’s capture to $50 million, a development Lopez shared with Villegas in an August text: “I’m still waiting for your answer,” he wrote, linking the Justice Department announcement.
Communications break down
By September, contact had soured. When Lopez texted from a new number, referencing their Dominican Republic meeting and asking about a strange looping flight pattern posted by a plane spotter, Villegas snapped back, calling him a “coward” and insisting, “The last thing we are is traitors.” Lopez replied with a photo from their hangar conversation; Villegas responded, “Are you crazy?” Shortly after, he blocked Lopez.
A move to rattle Caracas
Unable to flip the pilot, opposition allies tried a different tactic: Marshall Billingslea, a former U.S. national security official aligned with Venezuela’s opposition, posted a taunting birthday message to Villegas on X along with a cropped version of the hangar photo. Minutes later, a presidential Airbus took off from Caracas, then abruptly returned, fueling speculation online that Villegas had been recalled for questioning.
Days later, on Sept. 24, Villegas appeared on a TV show hosted by Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, who praised the pilot’s loyalty and mocked the idea that Venezuela’s military could be bought. Villegas stood silently beside him, fist raised.
Context and caution
The AP’s account is based on interviews with three current or former U.S. officials and one Maduro opponent, all speaking on condition of anonymity, and on authenticated text exchanges between Lopez and Villegas. DHS and the State Department declined comment; attempts to reach Villegas were unsuccessful; the Venezuelan government did not respond to AP’s requests.
Source: Reporting by Joshua Goodman, Associated Press; adaptation by The Midtown Times. Additional AP reporting by Regina Garcia Cano in Caracas.
