A federal indictment charging Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, his wife and four other people with narco-terrorism conspiracy and other charges was unsealed Saturday and posted online by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on the heels of the couple’s dramatic capture by American forces in their own country.
“For over 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,” the indictment alleges.
The indictment was filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. In addition to Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, the indictment also charges Maduro’s son, Nicolas Ernesto Maduoro Guerra, Diosado Cabello Rondon, Ramon Rodriguez Chachin, and Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores. Read the indictment here.
“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 indictment said.
“That drug trafficking has enriched and entrenched Venezuela’s political and military elite, including Minister of the Interior, Justice and Peace Diosado Cabello Rondon, the defendant, and former Minister of the Interior and Justice Ramon Rodriguez Chachin, the defendant.”
Guerrero was identified as the leader of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
In addition to the narco-terrorism conspiracy charge, the indictment alleges four other criminal counts: cocaine importation conspiracy; possession of machine guns and destructive devices; and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.
Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, blasted the attack on Venezuela and its rationale
“If this action were constitutionally sound, the Attorney General wouldn’t be tweeting that they’ve arrested the President of a sovereign country and his wife for possessing guns in violation of a 1934 U.S. firearm law,” Massie wrote in a post on the social media site X.