Venezuela freed seven Americans in the later part of 2022 — including the last five members of the Citgo 6 — in exchange for the two nephews of President Nicholas Maduro’s wife who had been jailed for years on drug smuggling convictions.

The Oct. 1 swap of the Americans, including five oil executives held for nearly five years, is the largest trade of detained citizens ever carried out by the Biden administration. One of the oil executives freed was Tomeau Vadell, the former general manager of the Citgo refinery in Lake Charles.

“After five years of work to free Tomeu Vadell and the rest of the Citgo 6, it is a blessing to say they are returning home,” U.S. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, said in a statement to the American Press after the release was announced. “Thank you to the administration and the many U.S. officials who worked with us to secure their release. This is a great day.”

Maduro’s government said in a statement that it released the American citizens as a humanitarian gesture. It praised the diplomacy that resulted in the freeing of the two “unjustly imprisoned” Venezuelans imprisoned in the United States and said it “hopes for the preservation of peace and harmony with all the nations of our region and the world.”

The other Citgo executives freed included Jose Luis Zambrano, Alirio Zambrano, Jorge Toledo and Jose Pereira — who were lured to Venezuela right before Thanksgiving in 2017 to attend a meeting at the headquarters of the company’s parent, state-run-oil giant PDVSA. Once there, masked security forces bearing assault rifles busted into a conference room and arrested the men.

The oil executives were convicted of embezzlement last year. They were sentenced to between eight years and 13 years in prison for a never-executed proposal to refinance billions in the oil company’s bonds. Maduro at the time accused them of “treason,” and Venezuela’s supreme court upheld their sentences earlier this year. The men have all pleaded not guilty and the State Department has regarded them as wrongfully detained.

“I can’t believe it,” said Vadell’s daughter, Cristina, when contacted in Houston by The Associated Press. Holding back tears of joy on her 31st birthday, she said: “This is the best birthday present ever. I’m just so happy.”

A sixth Citgo executive, Gustavo Cardena, was freed in March.