US Charges Maduro With Trafficking ‘Thousands of Tons of Cocaine’ To The US In Blistering Indictment

Screenshot via CNN

Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, touched down at Stewart Air National Guard Base in New York Saturday evening as the 25-page superseding indictment revealed the charges against them and three other defendants for allegedly transporting “thousands of tons of cocaine to the United States.”

The charges also alleged the defendants “knowingly used and carried firearms” to achieve their drug-trafficking goals, including “machine guns.” Maduro was charged in federal court with narco-terrorism conspiracy, weapons charges, and cocaine-importation conspiracy.

According to the indictment, the other three defendants include Maduro’s son, Nicolas Ernesto Maduro Guerra, a/k/a “Nicolasito” and “The Prince”; Minister of the Interior, Justice and Peace Diosado Cabello Rondon; former Minister of the Interior and Justice Ramon Rodriguez Chacin; and Tren de Aragua leader, Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, a/k/a “Nifio Guerrero.”

Maduro and his wife are expected to be detained at the Manhattan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, while they await trial by the Southern District of New York.

President Donald Trump announced the apprehension at a press conference form Mar-a-Lago where he said the U.S. intends to run the country until a suitable leader can be installed.

The indictment called Maduro the “illegitimate ruler of the country” who “sits atop a corrupt, illegitimate government that, for decades, has leveraged government power to protect and promote illegal activity, including drug trafficking. That drug trafficking has enriched and entrenched Venezuela’s political and military elite.”

The Trump administration did not obtain congressional authorization before going after Maduro, a move that has angered the president’s critics. Others, including several Democratic lawmakers praised Trump for ushering in democracy to the Latin American country.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) wrote on X, “Venezuelans deserve the promise of democracy and the rule of law, not a state of endless violence and spiraling disorder. My hope is it offers a passage to true democracy and liberation. This action offers beleaguered Venezuelans a chance to seat their true, democratically elected president, Edmundo González.”

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet Newsletter
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!