Venezuelan first lady's nephews convicted of drug charges in US court

Two nephews of Venezuela's first lady, Cilia Flores, have been convicted in US federal court for conspiring to smuggle more than 800 kilograms (1,763 pounds) of cocaine into the United States.

Franqui Francisco Flores de Freitas, 31, and Efrain Antonio Campo Flores, 30, were convicted Friday at the US District Court for the Southern District of New York in Lower Manhattan. Judge Paul Crotty presided over the trial, which began November 7.

The two men were apprehended in Haiti and transported to New York a year ago in a collaborative operation between the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the Haitian equivalent, BLTS.
In January, Flores, the wife of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, said her nephews had been "kidnapped" by the DEA for political reasons.

Venezuelan officials have not yet commented on the verdict.
The jury heard testimony from 14 witnesses including DEA agents, informants for the agency, a member of Haitian drug law enforcement, data analysts and translators.

The prosecution utilized the witness testimony, plus an array of evidence, to convince the jury that the defendants were guilty. The evidence included photos, videos and messages from the defendants' smartphones, as well as audio and video recordings obtained by DEA informants using hidden recording devices.