The Homeland Security Investigation, a US Customs Immigration division, on Monday announced that a Venezuelan official who was the brains behind Venezuela's Petro cryptocurrency program has been included in the Most Wanted List of the agency.
Joselit Ramirez Camacho, Petro's director, is accused of having strong political, economic and social links with many suspected narcotic kingpins, including former Venezuelan leader, Tareck El Aissami.
Camacho is wanted by ICE's Homeland Security Investigations division for violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Kingpin Act, and for infringing on a series of sanctions implemented by the US Treasury Department.
ICE said it will give a $5 million reward for information that would lead to the arrest and conviction of the 33-year old Camacho.
The Most Wanted List announcement comes the same day that the Venezuelan officials have started accepting the similarly sanctioned petro virtual currency for purchases of commodities like gasoline.
The government received several shipments of gasoline from Iran -- another US foe -- last week, eluding sanctions enforced by Washington. The operation, reports said, was carried out with no indication of interference from US officials.
Camacho has been the superintendent of Venezuela's digital currency agency since June 2018. His predecessor, Carlos Vargas, was a prominent congressman and opposition leader who was later tapped as one of the officials to Nicolas Maduro's administration when the petro was introduced.
Since the birth of Venezuela's government-supported digital asset, the government has reportedly been eluding financial sanctions when transacting with other nations.
After the arrival of the oil tankers, Venezuelan officials ordered all gas stations in the nation to include the Petro virtual cash as payment option. This means that its people can now purcahse gasoline using petro, but only if they know how the virtual currency works and how to use it.
In 2019, US President Donald Trump released an executive order prohibiting all transactions in the US that involves the petro digital money. Based on a report during that time, the order applies to both residents and citizens in the US.
Earlier this year, US officials disclosed that they were investigating Camacho for his involvement with other corrupt officials in Venezuela, including its leader, Nicolas Maduro.
The US Department of Justice filed charges against Maduro and other government figures with international drug operations, which flooded the US with narcotics for over two decades. According to the DOJ, the perpetrators used digital currencies to conceal the illicit transactions of their narcotics operations.
A $15 million bounty was raised for the capture of Maduro, while another $10 million was dangled for other top ranking officials including Diosdado Cabello, Hugo Carvajal, Tereck El Aissami, and Cliver Alcala.
