Homeland Security Task Force Arrests Alvaro Pulido Vargas on 2019 and 2021 Money Laundering Indictments

October 12, 2026

A Colombian national, Alvaro Pulido Vargas, also known as “German Enrique Rubio Salas,” was arrested and will appear in federal court in the Southern District of Florida on October 13, 2026. He faces charges from a 2019 indictment alleging he laundered about $350 million tied to a Venezuelan housing and currency-exchange bribery scheme, and from a 2021 indictment alleging he laundered proceeds from a roughly $1.6 billion bribery scheme involving Venezuelan food-and-medicine contracts under the CLAP program. The cases are being investigated by the DEA Miami Field Division, FBI Miami, and HSI Miami and are being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida and the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

Sources

• Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, “Homeland Security Task Force Arrests Alvaro Pulido Vargas to Face Charges in Multibillion-Dollar Venezuelan Money Laundering and Bribery Schemes” (Oct. 11, 2026): https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/homeland-security-task-force-arrests-alvaro-pulido-vargas-face-charges-multibillion-dollar