Mike Baker

One confidential informant told investigators back in 2021 that Rodriguez used hotels on Venezuela's Isla Margarita as fronts for money laundering.

And as recently as last year, U.S.

authorities were examining her ties to Alex Saab, who is Maduro's alleged financial intermediary.

Saab was arrested in 2020 on federal money laundering charges.

U.S.

officials have long viewed Isla Margarita as a trafficking hub linking Venezuela to the Caribbean and Europe.

Over the years, numerous traffickers have operated or taken refuge there, including figures tied to Mexico's Sinaloa cartel.

Despite the sustained investigation, the U.S.

government never publicly accused Rodriguez of criminal wrongdoing.

She's also notably absent from the list of more than a dozen Venezuelan officials charged alongside Maduro.

Still, DEA records reviewed by the AP showed Rodriguez's name surfacing in nearly a dozen investigations across multiple field offices from Paraguay to Ecuador to Phoenix and New York, several of which remain active.

Current and former DEA agents say the records reflect consistent institutional interest throughout her tenure as Maduro's vice president, which began in 2018.

What the records don't explain is why Rodriguez was elevated to priority target status.

That's a move that requires extensive documentation and internal approval.

And again, I want to underline this point.

That designation doesn't guarantee prosecution, but it does tell you how seriously investigators viewed her position inside the regime.

When taken together, the records obtained by the AP reflect how U.S.

authorities have viewed Rodriguez as someone embedded in the power structure which investigators associate with Venezuela's criminal networks.

That detail is what makes Trump's praise of the newly named Venezuelan president striking.

Since Maduro's capture, Trump described her as a, quote, terrific person and highlighted her contacts with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.