Former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has pleaded not guilty to drug charges. Lawyers plan to challenge the legality of the U.S. military operation.
Published July 22, 2026
A U.S. judge has set a trial date for former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who were abducted from the South American country during a January 2026 U.S. military offensive.
Judge Alvin Hellerstein on Wednesday set a trial date for June 1, 2027. Mr. Maduro and Mr. Flores have both pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking charges, denying the basic legitimacy of the trial.
Neither man spoke during the 15-minute court hearing. The administration of President Donald Trump justified January’s military raid on Caracas and the couple’s abduction, widely considered illegal by international legal scholars, by claiming that Maduro, in his capacity as head of state, was part of a conspiracy to traffic cocaine into the United States.
“I’m not guilty. I’m a decent human being and a constitutional president,” Maduro said at his January arraignment.
Mr. Maduro’s lawyer, Barry Pollack, disputes the legality of the military raid to capture Mr. Maduro and said he plans to bring him to the United States for trial. He said Wednesday that he would first challenge the case on grounds of sovereign immunity, which, if successful, would mean Maduro would no longer have to sue.
Neither Mr. Maduro nor Mr. Flores asked for bail, and Judge Hellerstein set a trial date for next year at the request of lawyers for both sides.
Maduro has been charged with four crimes, including “narco-terrorism” conspiracy and conspiracy to import cocaine, and could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted. The Trump administration has frequently used drug trafficking concerns to assert its influence in Latin American countries.
The Trump administration called the attack on Venezuela, which Venezuelan authorities said killed 83 people, a “surgical law enforcement operation” in a criminal case first brought six years ago.
Since then, interim president Delcy Rodríguez has taken over Venezuela’s presidency, and the country has become more closely aligned with U.S. interests.
