Drug trafficking charges: US doubles bounty on Venezuela’s president to $50m

Maduro

The United States doubled its bounty on Venezuelan President, Nicolas Maduro—who faces federal drug trafficking charges—to $50 million on Thursday, a move Maduro-led Venezuelan government described as “pathetic” and “ridiculous.”

Washington, which does not recognise Maduro’s past two election victories, accuses the South American country’s leader of leading a cocaine trafficking gang.

“Today, the Department of Justice and State Department are announcing a historic $50 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Nicolas Maduro,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a video on social media.

“He is one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world and a threat to our national security.”

The previous bounty was set in January at $25 million.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil said Bondi’s “pathetic” bounty was “the most ridiculous smokescreen we have ever seen.”

“The dignity of our homeland is not for sale. We reject this crude political propaganda operation,” Gil said on Telegram.

In 2020, during President Donald Trump’s first term in office, Maduro and other high-ranking Venezuelan officials were indicted in federal court in New York on several charges, including participating in a “narco-terrorism” conspiracy.

The Justice Department accused Maduro of leading a cocaine trafficking gang called “The Cartel of the Suns” that shipped hundreds of tons of narcotics into the United States over two decades, earning hundreds of millions of dollars.

Investigators say the cartel worked hand-in-hand with the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which the United States has labelled a terrorist organisation.

Bondi said Maduro also had worked with the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel.