Putting an end to a years-long hunt, Spain has extradited Venezuela's former spy chief Hugo Carvajal to the United States where he is facing charges of drug trafficking. Carvajal was once a close ally of the late Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez. He is considered to hold crucial information about Chávez's government and his successor Nicolás Maduro. Carvajal had fled Venezuela after he turned against Maduro but failed to get the support from country's army which remained loyal to Chavez. After fleeing Venezuela, he spent years in hiding in Spain. According to reports, Carvajal is accused of having used his position as chief of military intelligence to protect shipments of cocaine from Venezuela bound for the US. He is accused of forming part of a drug-smuggling organization dubbed the Cartel of the Suns, which prosecutors say is made up of high-ranking members of the Venezuelan military. He is also accused of providing weapons for a Colombian Marxist rebel group that had camps in neighbouring Venezuela. Carvajal has denied the charges and had successfully evaded his extradition for long.