Four charges were filed against the Venezuelan leader, and his wife faces three.
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were indicted in federal court shortly after their capture and extraction from Venezuela on Jan. 3, marking the latest milestone of developing legal and military action that began more than five years ago.
“Nicolas Maduro has been charged with Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy, Cocaine Importation Conspiracy, Possession of Machineguns and Destructive Devices, and Conspiracy to Possess Machineguns and Destructive Devices against the United States,” Bondi said on X.
“They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts.”
Filed by U.S. Attorney John Clayton, the indictment lists Maduro and Flores as defendants alongside Diosdado Cabello Rondón, minister of the Interior, Justice and Peace, the vice president of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela, and a member of the Venezuelan armed forces; Ramon Rodriguez Chacin, a Venezuelan politician and former member of the armed forces; Maduro’s son, Nicolas Ernesto Maduro Guerra; and the leader of Tren de Aragua, Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores.
Here’s what to know.
Maduro, Flores Face Life in Prison
All four of the charges against Maduro, Rondon, Chacin, and Guerrero Flores come with a maximum penalty of life in prison. His wife and son stand charged with all but the narco-terrorism conspiracy charge, also facing the potential of life in prison.
Clayton pointed out in the indictment that Flores was not only the “de facto First Lady,” but she also had a longstanding political career that included serving as the president of the National Assembly, attorney general of Venezuela, and a member of the National Constituent Assembly.
Maduro’s son is a current member of Venezuela’s National Constituent Assembly, and as the “Head of the Corps of Special Inspectors of the Presidency,” which the indictment said was a special position created for him by his father.
Clayton alleged that Venezuelan officials and their families “partnered with narcotics traffickers and narco-terrorist groups, who dispatched processed cocaine from Venezuela to the United States via transshipment points in the Caribbean and Central America, such as Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico. By in or about 2020, the State Department estimated that between 200 and 250 tons of cocaine were trafficked through Venezuela annually.”
Maduro Charged as a Civilian
The indictment refers to Maduro as a Venezuelan citizen who was previously the president but remained in power despite losing the recent election.
“The United States is trying to avoid sovereign immunity,” Neama Rahmani, president of West Coast Trial Lawyers and a former DOJ prosecutor who prosecuted drug and human trafficking cases, told The Epoch Times in an email.
“Heads of state typically can’t be prosecuted.
“The DOJ will argue that drug trafficking and terrorism are not protected as ‘official acts’ of a foreign government.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio reiterated that perspective during Saturday’s press conference with President Donald Trump, adding that it was not just the current administration that held the stance.
“He is not the legitimate president of Venezuela,” Rubio said. “That’s not just us saying it, the first Trump administration, the Biden administration, the second Trump administration. None of those three recognizes him.
“He’s not recognized by the European Union and multiple countries around the world. He is a fugitive of American justice.”
Outlines Regime’s Connection to Cartels
Clayton spends multiple pages of the indictment highlighting ways in which the defendants and others in the Maduro regime allegedly “facilitated the empowerment and growth of violent narco-terrorist groups, fueling their organizations with cocaine profits” over the years.
“These narco-terrorist organizations not only worked directly with and sent profits to high-ranking Venezuelan officials, but also reaped the benefits of the increased value of that cocaine at each transshipment point along the way to the United States, where demand and thus the price of cocaine is highest,” Clayton said.
Organizations mentioned included Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua, Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, Colombia’s Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), and Ejército de Liberación Nacional.
Ways in which the defendants allegedly worked those in the indictment included selling diplomatic passports to individuals known to be drug traffickers, and accepting bribes as high as $100,000 per flight to ensure safe passage of trafficking flights.
The indictment also alleges that Maduro’s son met with two FARC representatives in Medellin, Colombia, on or around 2020, when they “discussed arrangements to move large quantities of cocaine and weapons through Colombia and into the United States over the course of the next six years, until in or about 2026.”
‘Cartel of the Suns’
Clayton also alleged that the Maduro regime runs its own cartel of civilian, military, and intelligence officials called the Cartel de Los Soles, or Cartel of the Suns. The name references the sun insignia found on uniforms of Venezuela’s high-ranking military officials.
Trump cited that cartel when he addressed the nation on the operation.
“The illegitimate dictator Maduro was the kingpin of a vast criminal network responsible for trafficking colossal amounts of deadly and illicit drugs into the United States, as alleged in the indictment, he personally oversaw the vicious cartel known as Cartel de Los Soles, which flooded our nation with lethal poison, responsible for the deaths of countless Americans, many, many Americans, hundreds and thousands over the years, of Americans died because of him,” the U.S. president said.
The indictment also alleged a “culture of corruption” that allowed transshipment points to be maintained in Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, and nations in the Caribbean, accusing politicians in those countries of receiving payouts from drug traffickers in exchange for protection and assistance.
The payments then allegedly supported those politicians’ careers.
Maduro Indicted in 2020
This indictment follows a 2020 indictment filed by U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman.
“The scope and magnitude of the drug trafficking alleged was made possible only because Maduro and others corrupted the institutions of Venezuela and provided political and military protection for the rampant narco-terrorism crimes described in our charges,” Berman said in a statement.
“As alleged, Maduro and the other defendants expressly intended to flood the United States with cocaine in order to undermine the health and well-being of our nation.”
“Maduro very deliberately deployed cocaine as a weapon,” Berman added.
“While Maduro and other cartel members held lofty titles in Venezuela’s political and military leadership, the conduct described in the Indictment wasn’t statecraft or service to the Venezuelan people. As alleged, the defendants betrayed the Venezuelan people and corrupted Venezuelan institutions to line their pockets with drug money.”
Building Military Action
Upon announcing the March 2020 indictments, the U.S. government initially offered a $15 million reward for information leading to Maduro’s capture.
The March 2020 indictments against Maduro and other Venezuelan leaders also came just days before the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) announced an enhanced counter-narcotics mission around Latin and South America.
This 2020 SOUTHCOM operation saw a similar build-up of U.S. military capabilities as has occurred in more recent months under Operation Southern Spear.
Beginning in 2019, a former U.S. Army Green Beret named Jordan Goudreau had organized several U.S. military veterans and some former Venezuelan military defectors in a plot to kill, capture, or otherwise remove Maduro from power. Among those Goudreau worked with was Venezuelan Maj. Gen. Clíver Antonio Alcalá Cordones, who was named as another defendant alongside Maduro in the March 2020 indictment.
Alcalá was residing in Colombia at the time of the 2020 indictment and was organizing Venezuelan military defectors as part of Goudreau’s independently-organized plot to oust Maduro from power. Alcalá turned himself over to U.S. authorities within hours of the 2020 indictment.
From his home base in Florida, Goudreau ultimately directed two other former U.S. Green Berets, Airan Berry and Luke Denman, to proceed with the plot to oust Maduro, but that effort failed. By May 4, 2020, Berry, Denman, and several other Venezuelans involved in the plot were captured as they attempted to infiltrate Venezuela by boat.Other Venezuelans involved in Goudreau’s 2020 operation were killed.
President Joe Biden’s administration secured Berry and Denman’s release in a December 2023 prisoner exchange.
Alcalá ultimately pleaded guilty to providing arms and material support. He was sentenced in 2024 to nearly 22 years in prison.
In 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice arrested Goudreau on charges of arms trafficking in connection with his failed 2020 operation. Goudreau skipped a court hearing on Oct. 31, 2025, and has remained at large.
Meanwhile, that initial $15 million reward for information leading to Maduro’s capture was increased to $25 million and then to $50 million in August 2025. Military action appeared to focus on individual strikes on drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific, which evolved into land strikes before ultimately executing the operation that delivered Maduro into U.S. custody.
Trump confirmed to Fox News that Maduro and his wife were on board the USS Iwo Jima, bound for New York, where they will face prosecution.
By T.J. Muscaro and Ryan Morgan
