Federal Agent Tried to Convince Venezuelan Pilot to Fly Maduro Into US Territory So He Could be Arrested
President Nicolas Maduro flashes victory signs during Indigenous Day in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, Oct 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
A federal agent tried to convince the personal pilot of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro to fly him into U.S. territory to be captured.
News of the year-long effort was reported Tuesday by The Associated Press. According to the report, the agent, Edwin Lopez, engaged in dialogue with the pilot for well over a year in an effort to get him to flip.
The plan was first hatched after Lopez received a tip about Venezuelan planes undergoing repairs in the Dominican Republic. Realizing that Venezuela likely violated sanctions by using American parts, Lopez first worked to have the planes seized. Then, he got the idea to use one of the pilots — Venezuelan Gen. Bitner Villegas — to bring the elusive Maduro to them.
The report continued:
The agents pretended not to know that the pilots spent their time jetting around Maduro and other top officials. They spoke to each airman for about an hour, saving their biggest target for last: Villegas, who the agents had determined was Maduro’s regular pilot.
Villegas was a member of the elite presidential honor guard and colonel in the Venezuelan air force. A former Venezuelan official who regularly traveled with the president described him as friendly, reserved and trusted by Maduro. The planes he flew were used to shuttle Maduro across the globe –- often to U.S. adversaries like Iran, Cuba and Russia. In a December 2023 video posted online by Maduro, Villegas can be seen holding up a radio in the cockpit as the president trades patriotic slogans with the pilot of a Russian Sukhoi fighter jet.
After first engaging in some friendly banter with Villegas, Lopez began pressing him about his more high-profile clientele. When Villegas admitted to being Maduro’s pilot, Lopez promised he would be “very rich and beloved by millions of his compatriots” if he cooperated with the U.S. to help take down Maduro. Villegas gave Lopez his number and the two continued talking through encrypted channels.
Lopez’s efforts, however, never bore fruit. Villegas didn’t commit to the plan, but Lopez persisted even after his retirement from the federal government. In an effort to entice the pilot, Lopez reportedly sent him a link to a report about President Donald Trump raising the reward for Maduro’s arrest to $50 million.
“Still time left to be Venezuela’s hero and be on the right side of history,” Lopez told Villegas.
Villegas eventually had enough of Lopez’s badgering. During a Sept. 18 text exchange, he called Lopez a “coward” and claimed that “Venezuelans are cut from a different cloth,” reaffirming his loyalty to Maduro. Villegas then blocked Lopez’s number.
