Interpol and Marshals agents: the operation to extradite “Fred” Machado to the United States has begun

Federico “Fred” Machado is spending his last days in Argentina. This Saturday, an Interpol security operation began, along with a special Marshals team, to extradite him on Wednesday to the United States , where he is accused of drug trafficking, money laundering, and fraud.

Machado has been held in a Federal Police facility in Viedma, Río Negro, since early October, when Neuquén Federal Judge Gustavo Villanueva revoked his house arrest after the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation confirmed his extradition. He will be transferred from there to Buenos Aires this Saturday on a Federal Police plane.

The operation will be carried out by Interpol of the Federal Police. The transfer was scheduled for next Tuesday, but the forecast predicts storms for that day, making flying inadvisable, so it has been moved forward.

In Buenos Aires, Machado will remain detained in the Federal Police's Detention Division until Wednesday night when he will depart on a commercial flight to the United States, escorted by a team of Marshals, the federal force that works with the justice system of that country.

Machado's name rocked national politics a little over a month ago when it became known that he transferred $200,000 to José Luis Espert , and a case was started to determine if it was a money laundering operation related to drug trafficking.

Espert was then one of the politicians closest to the President of the Nation , Javier Milei : he chaired the Budget Committee of the Chamber of Deputies and was the first candidate for national deputy of “La Libertad Avanza” for the province of Buenos Aires, in a direct decision by Milei.

But his relationship with Machado, which dated back years, was inconsistent. In 2019, the businessman financed her presidential campaign with private flights and a truck. But those contributions were never declared.

Espert said it was just one flight, but it later came to light that there were 36, five of them with Machado himself. He claimed to have seen him only once, but images of Espert at the businessman's residence surfaced. "I'm not going to answer that," he replied when asked about the $200,000 transfer from Machado's Guatemalan company, "Minas del Pueblo," for consulting work denounced by Peronist leader Juan Grabois . It was later revealed that the contract was for one million dollars.

The lack of answers and the lies brought Espert down. He resigned his candidacy and took a leave of absence from the Chamber of Deputies. He faces two criminal cases for money laundering, and his home was raided, where his cell phone was seized.

Machado is under investigation in the United States by Texas authorities for a pyramid scheme involving the sale of airplanes. He is also being investigated for drug trafficking and money laundering. His partner, Debra Lynn Mercer-Erwin , was sentenced last year to 16 years in prison.

The businessman was cooperating with US authorities, of which he is a citizen, until he returned to Río Negro, his home province, in 2021. With an international arrest warrant issued against him, Machado was detained in April of that year and has been imprisoned ever since. Initially, he was under house arrest at his mother's home, 20 kilometers from Viedma on the banks of the Río Negro, due to health problems.

In 2022, Judge Villanueva approved his extradition. Machado spoke at that hearing. “They caught the wrong enemy. I’m not a drug trafficker, I have nothing to do with drugs, I never had anything to do with drugs, I never associated with them. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and the people I trusted, thinking they were the good guys, were actually the bad guys,” he said.

All that remained was for the transfer to be finalized within the legal timeframe—30 days, expiring on November 9—and for two requirements imposed by the Argentine justice system to be met. The first was that the United States agree to count the five years Machado has already spent imprisoned in Argentina as part of any eventual sentence. The response arrived diplomatically and was positive.

The second requirement was that Machado be in good enough health to make the trip due to a knee problem that required surgery. In recent days, he was examined by doctors who performed tests and confirmed that he is fit to fly.

The first step was his transfer from Viedma to Buenos Aires, which was carried out yesterday in an operation led by the Federal Police when he was transported in a plane belonging to that security force.

In Buenos Aires, Machado was held at the Detention Center until Wednesday night. That day he will board a United Airlines flight that will take him to the United States under the custody of U.S. Marshals to continue his legal proceedings there.