Washington, Nov 11 (EFE).– U.S. law enforcement officials arrested the godson and a nephew of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, charging them with conspiring to transport 800 kilos of cocaine to U.S. territory, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday citing sources close to the case.

Efrain Antonio Campo Flores, the godson of the Venezuelan leader, and Francisco Flores de Freitas, Maduro’s nephew, were arrested in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Tuesday by local police and immediately turned over to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which transported them that same day to New York, the sources said.

According to the daily, the suspects will have to appear before a federal judge in New York on Thursday.

Campo Flores, 29, who identified himself to the DEA agents as Maduro’s godson, was raised by the wife of the Venezuelan leader, Cilia Flores, who is the aunt of Flores de Freitas.

The arrests come amid several investigations being undertaken by the United States into alleged drug trafficking and money laundering activities being carried out by the top Venezuelan military leadership, the police and government officials.

The Journal says that Maduro’s two relatives got in contact with an undercover DEA informant in Honduras in October and asked for help in smuggling 800 kg of coke to the United States via the Honduran island of Roatan.

In subsequent meetings in Venezuela, which were recorded by DEA agents, the two Venezuelans brought a kilo of cocaine to the contact to show him the quality of the promised drug, which was going to be sold in New York.

Venezuelan Consul in New York Calixto Ortega was in contact with the DEA during the arrests, according to the same Journal sources. EFE