Venezuelan authorities have detained a 56-year-old former opposition member of parliament in Venezuela who was wanted by Interpol Portugal on suspicion of corruption and embezzlement.
Octavio Reinaldo Horta Gonzalez was arrested on Friday while driving near San Juan de Los Morros, in Guarico state, 206 kilometers south of Caracas.
The arrest was made by PoliGuarico officers, who, upon searching the car, found a 9mm Taurus pistol with a cartridge, 80 7.62x39mm bullets from an AK-103 assault rifle, 240 grams of drugs, possibly marijuana, five cell phones and a tablet.
According to a document from Portuguese authorities published by the Venezuelan press, Horta González and another person, Jennifer Pedrosa, are suspected of “using bank accounts that they or they jointly own in Porto to receive and transfer from and to bank accounts abroad, as well as in Portugal, large sums of money whose origin is suspected of being the result of corruption and embezzlement.”
Both are also suspected of using “part of these amounts to invest in real estate and luxury cars” with the “purpose of concealing their illegal origin, which amounts to money laundering,” the same document adds.
Octavio Reinaldo Horta González, married to Venezuelan model and Miss World 2011 Ivian Sarcos, was born in Caracas on January 6, 1968. He is a Venezuelan politician and former deputy of the state of Carabobo, located in the center and north of the country.
In 2021, he was a candidate for governor of the state of Guárico with the support of the opposition coalition Mesa de Unidad Democrática (MUD), where he was defeated by governor and United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) candidate José Vásquez, who was seeking re-election.