Maduro says Venezuela caught Marine-turned-CIA spy with 'special weapons' meant to target oil refineries

VENEZUELA'S President says authorities caught a U.S. Marine-turned-CIA spy with 'special weapons' meant to target the nation's oil refineries

President Nicolás Maduro said the U.S. spy was caught targeting a pair of refineries on the north Caribbean coast as the country is in the grips of a deep gasoline shortage.

Maduro alleged Friday the spy was a Marine who had served as a CIA operative in Iraq.

He said the suspect was captured Thursday while possessing specialized weapons and a large sum of dollars, adding that the man was being interrogated about his activities around the Amuay and Cardon refineries in Falcon state.

However, he gave no identity or other immediate proof to support the claim, saying more details would follow, such as photos and video.

Maduro, an adversary of the United States, also said Venezuelan authorities had dismantled a plot on Wednesday that was aimed at blowing up a third refinery, El Palito in Carabobo state.

He urged the nation's oil workers to be on alert for more attacks.

Oil once made Venezuela a wealthy nation, but the collapse of oil prices has now triggered a total economic meltdown.

And now, Venezuela is in the grip of a hyperinflation economic catastrophe after 19 years of successive socialist governments failed to control the cost of basic goods.

The nation is now home to dilapidated oil fields and refineries which barely produce, and the nation relies on imports from Iran.

A second, deep scarcity of gasoline struck in recent days, frustrating drivers stuck in lines for hours and days to fuel up, even in the capital of Caracas.

Analysts say the next three Iranian ships hauling fuel won't arrive for weeks.

While Venezuela's broken oil industry leaves drivers stranded, stiff U.S. sanctions have also blocked Maduro from importing gasoline.

If Maduro's claim of netting a U.S. citizen prove correct, the suspect would join two ex-Green Beret soldiers already jailed in Venezuela for allegedly participating in a failed attempt to overthrow the socialist leader.

The two former U.S. special forces soldiers were arrested in early May among more than 80 rebel Venezuelan fighters who staged a failed beach attack called Operation Gideon aimed at arresting Maduro.

The ex-Green Berets – Luke Denman and Airan Berry – have been sentenced to 20 years in prison after authorities say the two men confessed to being part of the plot.

While the Trump administration denied having anything to do with the blundered May incursion, Washington backs Venezuelan opposition politician Juan Guaidó who seeks to overthrow Maduro.

In March, Maduro and nearly a dozen other officials were charged with drug trafficking crimes and narco-terrorism.

Venezuelan government and intelligence officials as well as members of FARC, Colombia's reemerging Revolutionary Armed Forces, were accused by the US Department of Justice of conspiring with FARC rebels to "flood the United States with cocaine".

Three of Maduro's highest-ranking officials were accused of negotiating drug sales and providing logistics for transporting the drugs.

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