Not just a dictator: fed indictment lays out explosive case against Maduro

The unsealed federal indictment against Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro provides a sweeping and damning account of what U.S. prosecutors describe as a decades-long narco-terrorist enterprise run at the highest levels of the Venezuelan government—an operation allegedly designed to flood the United States with cocaine while enriching Maduro, his family, and his inner circle.

Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the superseding indictment accuses Maduro and senior regime officials of conspiring with foreign terrorist organizations and violent drug cartels to traffic thousands of tons of cocaine into the United States over more than 25 years. Prosecutors allege that drug trafficking was not incidental corruption, but rather the operating system of the Venezuelan state itself.

“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. It adds that Maduro “partnered with his co-conspirators to use his illegally obtained authority and the institutions he corroded to transport thousands of tons of cocaine to the United States.”

Unlike many international drug cases, the indictment repeatedly emphasizes intent to harm the United States, elevating the charges beyond narcotics trafficking into the realm of narco-terrorism. Prosecutors allege that Maduro and his allies knowingly provided material support to U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations, including Colombia’s FARC and ELN, as well as transnational criminal groups such as the Sinaloa Cartel, Los Zetas, and Tren de Aragua.

The document describes Venezuela as a “safe haven” for traffickers, protected by corrupt military and intelligence officials known collectively as the Cartel de los Soles—a reference to the sun insignia worn by Venezuelan generals. By 2020, the U.S. State Department estimated that 200 to 250 tons of cocaine were being trafficked through Venezuela annually.

The indictment contains striking allegations involving Maduro’s immediate family. Prosecutors claim his wife, Cilia Flores, accepted bribes and facilitated cocaine flights, while his son—known as “Nicolasito” or “The Prince”—personally coordinated shipments to Miami and New York using state-owned aircraft. In one instance, Maduro’s relatives allegedly discussed raising $20 million in drug proceeds to fund political campaigns.

Several passages describe extreme violence allegedly ordered or protected by the regime, including kidnappings, beatings, murders, and the use of machine guns, grenades, and destructive devices in furtherance of the conspiracy.

Legal experts note that the structure of the case mirrors prior U.S. prosecutions of global criminal enemies. The charges against Maduro closely resemble the narco-terrorism case used to dismantle Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán’s Sinaloa Cartel leadership, as well as terrorism statutes used to prosecute leaders of Islamic State who never personally set foot in the United States.

Notably, the indictment repeatedly labels Maduro as the “de facto but illegitimate ruler” of Venezuela and alleges that drug trafficking continued through disputed elections and internationally condemned power grabs. Prosecutors argue that Maduro used arrests of lower-level officials to deflect scrutiny while preserving the core criminal enterprise.

The indictment includes four major counts: narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and firearms conspiracy—each carrying severe penalties, including potential life imprisonment. It also seeks sweeping forfeiture of assets tied to the alleged crimes.

As debate continues over the legality of the recent U.S. operation that resulted in Maduro’s capture, the indictment provides critical context: the United States has long viewed Maduro not merely as a foreign autocrat, but as the alleged leader of a hostile criminal network deliberately targeting Americans through drugs, violence, and terror.