(NewsNation) — The United States captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and the Trump administration announced it had indicted the South American leader on criminal charges.
The two are facing:
- Narco-terrorism conspiracy
- Cocaine importation conspiracy
- Possession of machine guns and destructive devices
- Conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the United States.
The indictment names four other co-defendants: Nicolás Maduro Guerra, Maduro’s son; Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, the leader of the gang Tren de Aragua; Ramón Rodríguez Chacín, a former Venezuelan politician with alleged ties to the terrorist group known as Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (“FARC”); and Diosdado Cabello, Venezuela’s minister of interior, justice and peace.
You can read the full indictment here.
“They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said on X. “On behalf of the entire U.S. DOJ, I would like to thank President Trump for having the courage to demand accountability on behalf of the American People, and a huge thank you to our brave military who conducted the incredible and highly successful mission to capture these two alleged international narco traffickers.”
President Donald Trump ordered U.S. strikes on Venezuela Friday night into Saturday morning, which ended in Maduro’s capture. This comes after Maduro said on Friday he was open to holding talks with the Trump administration over drug trafficking.
This isn’t the first time the U.S. has indicted Maduro. On March 26, 2020, the Department of Justice announced similar charges against him and 14 Venezuelan officials, but there was no effort to capture him.