US raises bounty on Venezuela’s president to $50m over drug trafficking

The United States has doubled its bounty on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro – who faces federal drug trafficking charges – to $50 million.

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

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

“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.

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

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

The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) “has seized 30 tons of cocaine linked to Maduro and his associates, with nearly seven tons linked to Maduro himself,” Bondi said.

The US government has also seized more than $700 million in Maduro-linked assets, including two Venezuelan government aircraft, since September last year, according to Bondi.

She said: “Yet Maduro’s reign of terror continues.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, Maduro will not escape justice, and he will be held accountable for his despicable crimes.”

The 62-year-old Maduro, a former bus driver and trade unionist, faces up to life in prison if he can be tried and is convicted.

At the time of the indictment, Maduro slammed what he called “spurious, false” accusations.

In June, Venezuela’s former intelligence chief Hugo Armando Carvajal pleaded guilty to US drug trafficking and narco-terrorism charges.

The Miami Herald, citing sources familiar with the case, said Carvajal had offered to provide US authorities with documents and testimony implicating Maduro.

The Star