The Justice Department has charged Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores with narco-terrorism and weapons offenses, alleging a long-running, state-backed trafficking network that funneled huge shipments of cocaine toward the United States.
The indictment names Maduro and Flores alongside close associates and paints a picture of a ruling circle that allegedly turned state power into protection for organized crime. The most serious counts accuse the couple of narco-terrorism, and they also face charges tied to possession of machine guns.
Prosecutors say the accused converted Venezuela into a “cocaine-fueld” criminal enterprise working with major cartels and extremist groups to ship “thousands of tons of cocaine to the United States.” Those are stark allegations that, if proven, describe a nation’s institutions captured and repurposed for trafficking at scale.
In its own words the government contends that, “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” and that Maduro “now sits atop a corrupt, illegitimate government that, for decades, has leveraged government power to protect and promote illegal activity, including drug trafficking.”
The case centers on the so-called Cartel de los Soles, an alleged network of military, political, and intelligence figures who traded state resources and weapons for cash and political cover. Prosecutors link that network to groups like the FARC, ELN, the Sinaloa Cartel, the Zetas/CDN, and Tren de Aragua, saying those ties helped move product and shield operations.
The indictment traces alleged activity across decades and offices, arguing Maduro used each role he held to assist traffickers. It accuses him, when he was “as a member of Venezuela’s National Assembly,” of having “moved loads of cocaine under the protection of Venezuelan law enforcement,” a direct allegation about early involvement in trafficking operations.
As foreign minister, the document alleges he “provided Venezuelan diplomatic passports to drug traffickeers and facilitated diplomatic cover for planes used by money launderers to repatrate drug proceeds from Mexico to Venezuela,” and it contends that as president Maduro allowed “cocaine-fueld corruption to flourish for his own benefit, for the benefit of members of his ruling regime, and for the benefit of his family members.”
Maduro is further accused of coordinating with extremist organizations to move multi-ton shipments by sea and air through Venezuela and onward to Central American transit points like Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico. The indictment states that “Between 200 and 250 tons of cocaine were trafficked through Venezuela annually,’ by 2020, according to the document.”
Prosecutors allege Cilia Flores was personally involved in the scheme, attending meetings and accepting bribes to arrange access between traffickers and senior anti-drug officials. The filing claims traffickers paid about “$100,000 for each flight that was transporting cocaine,” plus a recurring monthly fee, with a share routed to Flores and others in the network.
To secure convictions, the government must prove Maduro and Flores knowingly entered agreements to distribute large quantities of cocaine destined for the United States and that they provided “something of pecuniary value” to designated terrorist organizations. Those are high bars that require detailed proof of intent, transactions, and coordination with illicit groups.
Convictions on the narco-terrorism and firearms counts carry penalties up to life imprisonment, reflecting the gravity of the charges. Both Maduro and his wife plead not guilty to the indictment, and the case now moves into the courtroom phase where evidence and testimony will determine whether the allegations hold up.
