Mon Jan 05 09:19:13 UTC 2026: Maduro and Associates Face “Narco-Terrorism” Charges After Dramatic US Abduction
New York, NY – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and five associates have been indicted in the United States on charges including “narco-terrorism,” cocaine importation conspiracy, and weapons offenses, according to a recently unsealed indictment from the Southern District of New York. The charges, echoing a 2020 indictment, allege that Maduro heads a corrupt regime fueled by large-scale drug trafficking operations.
The indictment claims Maduro and his associates, including his wife Cilia Flores, and son Nicolas Maduro Guerra, conspired to import thousands of tons of cocaine into the US. They are accused of working with drug trafficking groups from Colombia and Mexico. The US accuses Flores of ordering kidnappings, beatings, and murders to those who owed them drug money or otherwise undermined their drug trafficking operations. Others charged include current minister of interior, justice and peace, and former Interior Minister Ramon Rodriguez Chacin, and Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, the boss of Tren de Aragua gang.
According to reports, Maduro and Flores were allegedly abducted from Caracas on Saturday in a US military raid.
US officials, including Attorney General Pam Bondi, have declared that Maduro and Flores will face justice in US courts. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has characterized the abduction as a law enforcement action supported by the military.
The indictment alleges that Maduro “provided Venezuelan diplomatic passports to drug traffickers and facilitated diplomatic cover for planes used by money launderers to repatriate drug proceeds from Mexico to Venezuela.”
While former President Trump has linked Maduro to the Tren de Aragua gang, US intelligence agencies have reportedly found no evidence to support this claim.
The charges carry potential life sentences under US law.
First Piper 