Maduro, wife indicted in U.S. on federal drug trafficking charges
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, his wife Cilia Flores and four government officials were charged in the U.S. with narco-terrorism, conspiracy and other charges following their dramatic capture by American forces in their home country.
The indictment unsealed Saturday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan charges Mr. Maduro, Ms. Flores, Mr. Maduro’s son, Nicolas, and government officials Diosado Cabello Rondon, Ramon Rodriguez Chachin and Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores.
“For over 25 years, leaders of Venezuela have abused their positions of public trust and corrupted once-legitimate institutions to import tons of cocaine into the United States,” the indictment states.
U.S. Attorney for Manhattan Jay Clayton wrote in the indictment that Mr. Maduro “sits atop a corrupt, illegitimate government that for decades has leveraged government power to protect and promote illegal activity, including during trafficking.
“That drug trafficking has enriched and entrenched Venezuela’s political and military elite, including Minister of the Interior, Justice and Peace Diosado Cabello Rondon, the defendant, and former Minister of the Interior and Justice Ramon Rodriguez Chachin, the defendant.”
Mr. Guerrero Flores was identified as the leader of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
In addition to the narco-terrorism conspiracy charge, the indictment alleges cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.
The indictment alleges that Mr. Maduro and the defendants have “for decades partnered with some of the most violent and prolific drug traffickers and narco-terrorists in the world and relied on corrupt officials throughout the region to distribute tons of cocaine to the United States.
“The profits of that illegal activity flow to corrupt rank-and-file civilian, military and intelligence officials, who operate in a patronage system run by those at the top, referred to as the Cartel de Los Soles or Cartel of the Suns, a reference to the sun insignia affixed to the uniforms of high-ranking Venezuelan military officials.”
Federal prosecutors say Mr. Maduro and the defendants partnered with various narcotics traffickers and narco-terrorist groups, who moved the cocaine from Venezuela to the U.S. via shipping points in the Caribbean and Latin American countries such as Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico.
Mr. Maduro is accused of moving loads of cocaine under the protection of Venezuelan law enforcement while he was a member of the national assembly, the indictment says. When he moved up to become Venezuela’s minister of foreign affairs, he provided diplomatic passports for drug traffickers and facilitated cover for planes used by the money launderers, according to the indictment.
By 2020, Venezuela had trafficked between 200 and 250 tons of cocaine to the U.S., the indictment says.
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On multiple occasions, Mr. Maduro would call the Venezuelan Embassy in Mexico and say that a diplomatic mission would be arriving by private plane. The plane would return under the drug cover.
Ms. Maduro had accepted “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in bribes to broker a meeting between “a large-scale drug trafficker” and the director of Venezuela’s National Anti-Drug Office. The drug trafficker later arranged a monthly bribe to that official, which amounted to roughly $100,000 to ensure safe passage for each flight transporting cocaine.
