A federal indictment charging Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, his wife and four others with drug-terrorism conspiracy and other crimes was unsealed and posted online by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Saturday morning, following the couple’s dramatic arrest by U.S. forces in their home country.
“For more than 25 years, Venezuela’s leaders abused their position of public trust, corrupted once-legitimate institutions, and imported vast quantities of cocaine into the United States,” the indictment alleges.
The indictment was filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. In addition to Mr. Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, the indictment also charges Mr. Maduro’s sons Nicolas Ernesto Maduoro Guerra, Diosado Cabello Rondon, Ramon Rodríguez Chachin, and Hector Rustenford Guerrero Flores. Read the indictment here.
“Defendant Nicolás Maduro Moroz currently sits at the head of a corrupt and illegitimate government that has used government power for decades to protect and facilitate illegal activities, including drug trafficking,” the indictment states.
“Drug trafficking has enriched and entrenched Venezuela’s political and military elite, including defendant Diosado Cabello London, Minister of the Interior, Justice and Peace, and defendant Ramon Rodríguez Chachin, former Minister of Interior and Justice.”
Mr. Guerrero was identified as the leader of the Venezuelan gang Torren de Aragua.
In addition to the narco-terrorism conspiracy charge, the indictment also alleges four other charges, including conspiracy to import cocaine, conspiracy to import cocaine, conspiracy to import cocaine, conspiracy to import cocaine, and conspiracy to narco-terrorism. Possession of machine guns and destructive devices. Conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.
Representative Thomas Massey, Republican of Kentucky, slammed the attack on Venezuela and its rationale.
“If this measure were constitutionally sound, the Attorney General would not tweet that he had arrested the president of a sovereign nation and his wife for possessing a gun in violation of the United States Firearms Act of 1934,” Massey said in a post on social media site X.
