Increased reward offered for capture of Venezuelan President Maduro, now worth $50 million by the US.
In a significant development, the United States has increased the reward for the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to $50 million (€43 million). This announcement was made by the Department of Justice and State Department, who have also charged Maduro with multiple serious crimes, primarily related to drug trafficking and terrorism.
The U.S. government accuses Maduro of leading the Cartel de los Soles, a drug trafficking organization responsible for trafficking cocaine into the United States for over a decade. He is also charged with narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, and possession and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices in violation of U.S. federal laws.
These charges are part of a broader indictment from the Southern District of New York, levelled as early as 2020, and have been reaffirmed and publicized with increased intensity. The U.S. government has seized assets worth more than $700 million linked to Maduro, including two private jets.
Attorney General Pam Bondi has accused Maduro of participating in a "narco-terrorism" conspiracy and of collaborating with powerful criminal cartels to flood America with cocaine and laundering large amounts of drug profits. Maduro has been accused of smuggling fentanyl-laced cocaine into the US and working with criminal groups like Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel.
Venezuela's Foreign Minister Yvan Gil has criticised the increase in Maduro's bounty, calling it "pathetic." He claimed that Maduro's reign of terror continues and accused Bondi of orchestrating a "crude political propaganda operation." Gil also stated that the "dignity of our homeland is not for sale."
The correction made in the article regarding the amount of cocaine traced to Maduro (from 7 million tons to 7 tons) does not alter the severity of the charges against him. The U.S. government's actions against Maduro are seen as addressing one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world and a threat to national security.
This article was edited by Sean Sinico.
[1] Department of Justice, U.S. Government (2020). Indictment against Nicolás Maduro. [online] Available at: https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1283931/download
[2] Reuters (2020). U.S. indicts Maduro, accusing Venezuela president of narco-terrorism. [online] Available at: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-politics-maduro-idUSKBN27U26Q
[3] BBC News (2020). Venezuela: US charges Maduro with drug trafficking. [online] Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-54563711
[4] The Guardian (2020). US charges Venezuela’s Maduro with drug trafficking and terrorism. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/25/us-charges-venezuelas-maduro-with-drug-trafficking-and-terrorism
[5] CNN (2020). US charges Maduro with drug trafficking, offers $15 million reward for his arrest. [online] Available at: https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/25/americas/venezuela-maduro-us-charges-drug-trafficking/index.html
The U.S. government's charges against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, which include drug trafficking, narco-terrorism, and violation of U.S. federal laws, are a part of the wider global discourse on crime and justice, and policy and legislation. The media outlets, including Reuters, BBC News, The Guardian, and CNN, have reported extensively on this issue, emphasizing its significance in the world politics and general news. The Department of Justice's indictment against Maduro, available online, details the multiple serious crimes he is accused of, such as leading the Cartel de Los Soles and collaborating with criminal cartels like Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel.
