MIAMI — Two of the some of the most prominent Venezuelan officials wanted by the United States, former Supreme Court president Maikel Moreno and former Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami, are now being named as possible next transfers to U.S. custody.

The reports follow the handover of businessman Álvaro Pulido, which Sociedad Media earlier reported. No transfer of either man has been announced.

Bloomberg reports that Moreno and El Aissami are among the people Washington is seeking, in coverage focused on Pulido’s arrival in the United States. The report does not say the transfers are a certainty, and gives no timeline. The “next to be handed over” framing comes from other outlets repeating the report. Neither man, nor Venezuela’s government, has commented publicly on the claims.

Pulido, a 62-year-old Colombian-born businessman, was taken into U.S. custody, U.S. officials said on Sunday. He is due to make his first appearance in federal court in Miami on Tuesday. Pulido was indicted there in 2019 and 2021 in connection with his longtime business partner, Alex Saab. Prosecutors allege the two used offshore shell companies to funnel bribes to Maduro allies in exchange for more than $2 billion in contracts to import food, medicine and low-cost housing.

The U.S. had offered up to $10 million for information leading to his arrest. He was jailed in Venezuela in 2023, in the anti-corruption crackdown at the state oil company PDVSA led by Delcy Rodríguez, who was then vice president and is now acting president.

Pulido is at least the third person Venezuela has sent to the United States this year and the second this month.

Saab was deported in May and pleaded guilty last month to money-laundering charges, agreeing to cooperate and forfeit $195 million. Aníbal Alexander Canelón Aguirre, a Venezuelan facing bank fraud and material-support-for-terrorism charges, was sent in early October.

Caracas has made no public announcement about any of the transfers.

Who Are Moreno & El Aissami?

Maikel Moreno headed Venezuela’s Supreme Court from 2017 to 2022. In January 2023, U.S. prosecutors in South Florida indicted him on charges of laundering money and accepting bribes to decide court cases. The U.S. has offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest.

The reports reviewed do not say where he is or whether he is in custody.

Tareck El Aissami served as interior minister, vice president and oil minister under Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro. The U.S. Treasury sanctioned him under the Kingpin Act in 2017, and the State Department offered $10 million in 2020 for information leading to his capture. He resigned as oil minister in 2023 amid a PDVSA corruption investigation and has been detained in Venezuela since April 2024.

Washington has accused him of drug trafficking and sanctions violations.

The Constitutional Hurdle

Venezuela’s constitution bars extraditing its own citizens. Pulido holds Venezuelan citizenship, and Bloomberg noted that this raises questions about how his transfer was carried out. In Saab’s case (Colombian nationality), the report said, Venezuelan authorities considered annulling his citizenship and later claimed he had obtained it illegally. It is unclear whether Pulido’s citizenship was revoked (also Colombian nationality).

Caracas has not explained the legal mechanism it is using.

Why Rodríguez is Cooperating

Rodríguez has stepped up security cooperation with Washington since the U.S. captured Maduro in January in the midst of a string of oil deals. The AP reported she faces pressure from members of the ruling coalition who oppose the U.S. effort to round up wanted Venezuelan insiders.

The Trump administration is said to be seeking “scores” of them. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has described a three-stage plan for Venezuela: stabilization, economic recovery, and a transition toward free elections.

Pulido’s court appearance in Miami will show how quickly his case moves, and whether he follows Saab’s path of cooperating.

Any movement on El Aissami would be the more consequential test, since he has been held in Venezuela for more than two years. A transfer of Moreno would require first knowing where he is.