US announces Maduro’s trial on drug terrorism charges
3 January 17:14
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was captured by US special forces, will stand trial in the United States, Attorney General Pam Bondi said, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
According to her, Maduro is accused of conspiracy to commit “narco-terrorism” and import cocaine into the United States, as well as illegal possession of machine guns and explosive devices. The charges against the Venezuelan president and his wife, Silia Flores, were filed in the Southern District of New York. Bondi added that Maduro’s trial will be held “soon.”
on January 3, Trump said that Maduro and his wife had been captured and taken out of the country during a US military operation in Venezuela. The United States accused the president of the republic of drug terrorism in absentia back in 2020, during Trump’s first term. In August 2025, the DOJ and the State Department increased the reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest from $25 million to $50 million. Bondi noted that he “is one of the largest drug traffickers in the world and a threat to U.S. national security.”
Maduro was captured early Saturday morning by the Delta Force, an elite special forces unit of the US Army, US officials told CBS News. The Venezuelan authorities do not know the whereabouts of the head of state and his wife, who has been a member of the National Assembly for the past ten years, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said. She asked for evidence that they are alive.
