A Venezuelan-American citizen was abruptly released and expelled from the country hours after journalist Sebastiana Barráez revealed in Infobae who was detained in a clandestine prison. This center operated, according to the investigation, under the orbit of the Minister of the Interior and Justice, Diosdado Cabello, within the National Anti-Drug Command (CNA) of Las Acacias, in Caracas.
The release of Andrés Ibarz, which was not officially announced by the Venezuelan government, was confirmed by Barráez, who assured that the publication of his report precipitated his release.
“After we published the article in Infobae He ran out, they took the American out, they put him at the door of the command and after a while they took him on a plane to Aruba and from there to the United States,” he declared in an interview with journalist Enler García.
The United States Department of State had informed international media that at least one American citizen had been released in Venezuela, without revealing his identity.
“Well, I’m telling you. It’s the guy called Andrés Ibarz,” said the journalist.
An anti-drug center converted into a parallel prison
The report of Infobae signed by Barráez exposes how the National Anti-Drug Command of the Bolivarian National Guard, located in Las Acacias, stopped being an operational center to become an unofficial prison under the direct control of Cabello.
“Diosdado Cabello is the one who gives the orders for everything that is done in the ANC,” the text quotes a custodian.
According to the investigation, at least 72 people are currently detained in that facility, including 35 active military personnel, five mayors, 20 businessmen – including Ibarz and two Mexican citizens – and 12 civilians. Many of them were arrested without a warrant, hooded and taken directly to terrorism courts, during the called Operation Tun Tun.
The Andrés Ibarz case: arbitrary detention and diplomatic pressure
Andrés Ibarz, vice president of the logistics company The J&J Tech Import Corp, was arrested in 2025 by GOES officials, who raided his warehouse and confiscated his parcels.
Before the so-called Operation Absolute Resolve, which culminated in the capture of Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores by US forces, Ibarz was forced to record a video showing his US passport, in what is presumed to have been an attempt to Use it as a bargaining chip.
On November 1, 2025, Ibarz was presented before the Fourth Terrorism Court without private defense and held in a punishment cell known as “El Tigrito”, “without light and in inhumane conditions,” according to the report. His family would have contacted the State Department, which would have contributed to his release after the article was published.
Torture, forced confessions and disappearances
The article also documents serious human rights violations committed against other ANC detainees. Lieutenant Colonel Tomás Gómez Machuca was arrested on October 7, 2025 and, after being tortured, he made a denunciation that served to build the case against other soldiers and businessmen. A few days later, he attempted suicide in the dungeons of URIA 43.
Colonel Eduardo Mata Villarroel and retired captain Rodolfo Berríos They were arrested without a court order and subjected to torture that included electric shocks to the testicles, beatings, hooding and isolation. Both remained handcuffed for weeks in inhumane conditions.
One of the most alarming cases is that of Lieutenant Colonel Sinecio Coronado Rodríguez, who was arrested during an official videoconference and transferred to Caracas. There he was tortured with asphyxiation, electric shocks and beatings until he vomited blood. He was briefly hospitalized before being returned to the ANC, where he remains detained.
In addition to Ibarz, there are other high-profile prisoners in the ANC. Among them the businessman David Manuel Pita Bracho, linked to the scandal of the 104 gold bars that involved Delcy Rodríguez and the Spanish businessman Víctor Aldama. Pita, legal representative of Bancasa AG, was arrested along with other businessmen such as Ismael del Valle.
Five mayors are also detained, including the former mayor of La Guajira, and at least two Mexican citizens: Diego Gómez Toral and Gustavo Orellana. Gladys Orellana, a relative of one of them, was transferred in December to the “La Crisálida” women’s prison.
Official silence and increasing complaints
The Venezuelan government has not offered explanations about the existence of this parallel prison or the conditions of detention of the prisoners. However, reports of torture, forced disappearances and arbitrary detentions continue to accumulate.
“They have violated all their constitutional rights and the laws that protect due process,” denounced a source close to the cases.
The release of Andrés Ibarz, although celebrated by his family, reveals a structure of repression that, according to Barráez, operates outside of legality and under the direct control of one of the most powerful men in Chavismo.
