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Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was indicted by a federal grand jury on sweeping narcotics and weapons charges, accused by U.S. prosecutors of leading a decades-long scheme to flood the United States with cocaine while enriching himself, his family and senior members of Venezuela’s government.
The indictment was unsealed Saturday after Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were taken into U.S. military custody in an overnight operation and transported to the United States, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced.
“They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts,” Bondi said.
Maduro, Flores and four others are charged in the superseding indictment filed in the Southern District of New York, including Maduro’s son Nicolás Ernesto Maduro; Venezuela’s interior minister, Diosdado Cabello; former interior minister Ramón Rodríguez Chacín; and Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, identified by prosecutors as a leader of the Venezuelan-based criminal gang Tren de Aragua.
It was not immediately clear whether Maduro’s son has been taken into custody. The remaining three defendants remain at large.
Court Proceedings Expected
Maduro and Flores could make their initial court appearance in Manhattan as early as Monday, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The case is being overseen by U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein.
A plane carrying Maduro landed Saturday afternoon at an airport in New York’s Hudson Valley, where he was expected to be transferred to federal custody ahead of arraignment next week, the sources said.
The charges stem from a broader case first brought in March 2020 during President Donald Trump’s first term. The new filing expands and updates those allegations.
Allegations of State-Sponsored Drug Trafficking
According to the indictment, Maduro was at the “forefront of the corruption” that transformed Venezuela into a hub for cocaine trafficking, working with drug traffickers and narco-terrorist groups to move “thousands of tons” of cocaine into the United States over more than 25 years.
“Leaders of Venezuela have abused their positions of public trust and corrupted once-legitimate institutions to import tons of cocaine into the United States,” prosecutors wrote.
The indictment alleges that the trafficking operation enriched Maduro, his family, and members of Venezuela’s political and military elite, while also empowering violent criminal organizations operating with impunity inside the country.
“This cycle of narcotics-based corruption lines the pockets of Venezuelan officials and their families while also benefiting violent narco-terrorists,” prosecutors said.
Maduro faces four counts: narco-terrorism conspiracy; conspiracy to import cocaine; possession of machineguns and destructive devices; and conspiracy to possess machineguns and destructive devices.
Use of Diplomatic Cover
Prosecutors allege that Maduro exploited his government roles to facilitate drug trafficking, including selling Venezuelan diplomatic passports to known traffickers and using diplomatic cover to move private aircraft and drug proceeds beyond the reach of law enforcement.
As foreign minister, Maduro is accused of authorizing diplomatic flights and documents to shield cocaine shipments and cash transfers between Venezuela and Mexico.
Maduro and Flores are also accused of jointly trafficking cocaine seized by Venezuelan authorities between 2004 and 2015, using military escorts and maintaining state-backed criminal groups to protect their operation.
The indictment alleges they ordered kidnappings, assaults and killings against individuals who failed to pay debts or threatened the drug enterprise.
Diversion and Bribery Allegations
After Maduro became president in 2013, prosecutors say he authorized the arrests of Venezuelan military officials to divert attention after French authorities seized 1.3 tons of cocaine shipped from Venezuela to Paris aboard a commercial flight.
Flores is accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to arrange a meeting between a major drug trafficker and the head of Venezuela’s National Anti-Drug Office, Nestor Reverol Torres. Prosecutors say the trafficker later paid monthly bribes to facilitate cocaine shipments, with Flores receiving a share.
Reverol Torres was charged with narcotics offenses in 2015 and remains a fugitive.
Political Fallout
President Trump, speaking earlier Saturday from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, said Maduro and his wife would “stand trial on American soil.”
The arrests mark a dramatic escalation in the U.S. government’s long-running effort to hold Venezuela’s leadership criminally accountable, and represent one of the most consequential prosecutions ever brought against a sitting foreign head of state.
