Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife are set to appear in a New York court on Monday to face drug-trafficking charges two days after their dramatic capture by U.S. forces in their home country.
Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have been held since they were taken from Venezuela after a U.S. strike on the country at the orders of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, whose office is prosecuting the couple, during an interview Monday morning on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” said, “From the perspective of where I sit, my people and I are completely comfortable with this prosecution.”
Maduro is charged in a federal indictment with narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices. Flores is charged with the cocaine conspiracy and weapons counts.
Captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro arrives at the Downtown Manhattan Heliport, as he heads towards the Daniel Patrick Manhattan United States Courthouse for an initial appearance to face U.S. federal charges including narco-terrorism, conspiracy, drug trafficking, money laundering and others in New York City, U.S., January 5, 2026.
Eduardo Munoz | Reuters
Maduro, whom the indictment refers to as the “illegitimate ruler” of Venezuela as a result of fraudulent election results, is accused of partnering with co-conspirators, narcotics traffickers, and narco-terrorist groups to import tons of cocaine into the United States.
Maduro is scheduled to appear at noon ET in U.S. District Court in Manhattan before Judge Alvin Hellerstein. Flores will also appear in the same courtroom.
President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores hold hands and pose for photos after the swear-in ceremony at Palacio Federal Legislativo on January 10, 2025 in Caracas, Venezuela.
Jesus Vargas | Getty Images News | Getty Images
“Nicolas Maduro Moros, the defendant, now sits atop a corrupt, illegitimate government that, for decades, has leveraged government power to protect and promote illegal activity, including drug trafficking,” the 25-page indictment alleges.
“This cycle of narcotics-based corruption lines the pockets of Venezuelan officials and their families while also benefiting violent narco-terrorists who operate with impunity on Venezuelan soil and who help produce, protect, and transport tons of cocaine to the United States,” the indictment says.
Among the alleged overt acts detailed in the indictment is a meeting that Flores attended in approximately 2007, in which she purportedly “accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to broker a meeting between a large-scale drug trafficker and the director of Venezuela’s National Anti-Drug Office, Nestor Reverol Torres.”
“The drug trafficker later arranged to pay a monthly bribe to Reverol Torres, in addition to approximately $100,000 for each flight that was transporting cocaine to ensure the flight’s safe passage, a portion of which was then paid to Flores de Maduro,” the indictment alleges.
“Reverol Torres was charged with narcotics offenses in the Eastern District of New York and is a fugitive.”
The other defendants charged in the same indictment are not in U.S. custody.
Those defendants are Maduro’s son, Nicolas Ernesto Maduro Guerra; Diosdado Cabello Rondon; Ramon Rodriguez Chacin; and Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores.
Cabello is Venezuela’s interior minister, a post previously held by Rodriguez.
Guerrero has been identified as the leader of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
The Trump administration has faced questions about Maduro’s apprehension in his own country, given Trump’s recent pardon of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was convicted in 2024 of conspiring with drug traffickers and using his government position to help hundreds of tons of cocaine enter the United States.
This is developing news. Check back for updates.
