The reward amount for information leading to the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has increased from $25 million to $50 million. This comes as the Trump administration intensifies its focus on taking down drug trafficking and illegal immigration.
The US Department of Justice announced on Thursday that it will enhance its efforts to arrest Maduro.
The cartel in question, with which Maduro is connected, is Cartel de los Soles, which he is the leader of, according to the DOJ. Cartel de los Soles was designated, along with seven other gangs, a foreign terrorist organization.
“For over a decade, Maduro has been a leader of Cartel de los Soles, which is responsible for trafficking drugs into the United States,” the DOJ stated in a press release.
According to the US Department of State (DOS), Maduro’s criminal charges come from a 2020 indictment in which he was charged with several counts.
“In March 2020, Maduro was charged in a Southern District of New York federal indictment for narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices,” the DOS wrote.
“In the July 28, 2024, Venezuelan presidential election, Maduro fraudulently declared himself the victor despite evidence to the contrary,” the DOJ further wrote. “The United States joined many other countries in refusing to recognize Maduro as the legitimate winner of the July 2024 presidential election.”
“Since 2020, Maduro has strangled democracy and grasped at power in Venezuela,” the DOJ continued. “Maduro claimed to have won Venezuela’s July 28, 2024, presidential election but failed to present any evidence that he had prevailed. The United States has refused to recognize Maduro as the winner of the 2024 election and does not recognize him as the President of Venezuela.”
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil stated on Telegram his assumption over the US’s rationale for trying to arrest Maduro.
“While we take down terrorist plots being organized in his country, this woman (Bondi) comes up with a media show to please the defeated far-right in Venezuela. We are not surprised, considering who it comes from. The same person who promised a non-existent ‘secret list,'” Gil said.
