Nicolás Maduro is set to make his first appearance in U.S. federal court on Monday.
The Venezuelan president, who was captured by U.S. forces early Saturday in a surprise military operation in Caracas, is now awaiting trial in New York City on federal criminal charges including narco-terrorism conspiracy and cocaine importation conspiracy.
The proceeding is scheduled to take place at noon in the federal courthouse in Manhattan before 92-year-old U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein.
Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, was also seized by the U.S. military and also faces federal criminal charges, including conspiracy to import cocaine.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said Saturday in a post on social media that Maduro and Flores “will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts.”
Prosecutors charged Maduro with federal crimes in 2020, during President Trump’s first term, accusations the Venezuelan president denied at the time.
On Saturday, Bondi published the superseding indictment that Maduro, Flores and other Venezuelan officials now face.
The Justice Department accuses Maduro and other Venezuelan leaders of — among other crimes — using their positions in government to facilitate the importation of cocaine into the U.S. over the course of more than two decades. [npr.org]
