Narco-Terrorism, Cocaine Import, Passport Fraud: Charges Against Maduro

Deposed Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores will face criminal charges after they were captured and transported from Caracas to New York on Saturday. A newly unsealed US justice department indictment accuses Maduro of corruption and narco-terrorism conspirancy, among other charges. Three others, apart from Maduro, his wife and son, have also been named in the indictment.

The same charges in an earlier indictment had been brought against Maduro in a Manhattan court in 2020, during Trump's first Presidential term. Here are the charges faced by Maduro:

Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy: Maduro is accused of partnering with "some of the most violent and prolific drug traffickers and narco-terrorists in the world" during his 25-year career in public posts to facilitate the shipment of thousands of tons of cocaine as a weapon against the US.

Cocaine Importation Conspiracy: Powerful drug-trafficking organisations, like the Cartel of the Suns, Sinaloa cartel and Tren de Aragua gang, worked directly with the government, splitting profits in exchange for protection.

Opinion | The Trump Corollary To The Monroe Doctrine Reaches Venezuela

Possession of Machine Guns and Destructive Devices: Use and possession of machine guns and "destructive devices" to facilitate drug trafficking.

Conspiracy to Possess Machine Guns and Destructive Devices: Specifically aimed at the security apparatus, including the gang Tren de Aragua, used to protect drug routes.

Diplomatic Passport Fraud: As Venezuela's Minister of Foreign Affairs between 2006 and 2008, Maduro provided diplomatic passports to drug traffickers and "facilitated diplomatic cover for planes used by money launderers to repatriate drug proceeds from Mexico to Venezuela".

Charges faced by Flores:

As per the indictment, Flores facilitated contacts between traffickers and senior Venezuelan government officials in lieu of financial rewards. This included a meeting between the chief of Venezuela's national anti-drug agency and a large-scale trafficker.

Follow Live Updates On US's Attack On Venezuela And Maduro's Capture

Maduro and his wife are accused of ordering kidnappings, beatings and murders "against those who owed them drug money or otherwise undermined their drug trafficking operation". Among those killed was a local drug boss in Caracas, according to the indictment.

Charges against Maduro's son:

Nicolas Ernesto Maduro Guerra or "The Prince" visited Venezuela's Margarita Island twice every month in 2014 and 2015 and would fly back in a state-owned Falcon 900 plane loaded with packages allegedly containing drugs. The indictment states that he worked to ship hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Venezuela to Miami. He also
spoke with his drug trafficking partners about, among other things, shipping low-quality cocaine to New York because it could not be sold in Miami, arranging a 500-kilogram shipment of cocaine to be unloaded from a cargo container near Miami, and using scrap metal containers to smuggle cocaine into the ports of New York. 

Charges against Venezuelan ministers:

Minister of interior, justice and peace Diosdado Cabello Rondon was charged with helping dispatch 5.5 tons of cocaine from Venezuela to Mexico in 2006 and receiving a payment of $2.5 million.

Former minister Ramon Rodriguez Chacin accepted handsome bribes and offered a large-scale drug trafficker protection from arrest and extradition.

Also Read | What Next For Venezuela After Maduro's Capture? Here Are 5 Scenarios

Charges against alleged gang leader:

Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, the alleged leader of the gang Tren de Aragua, is accused of engaging in extortions, kidnappings, murders, drug trafficking, gun trafficking, prostitution, sex trafficking, robberies, bank burglaries, and money laundering in Venezuela, the United States, and elsewhere.

The indictment alleged that the leaders of Venezuela "abused their positions of public trust and corrupted once-legitimate institutions to import tons of cocaine into the United States". It stated that "de facto but illegitimate ruler of the country" remained in power despite losses in recent elections.

By 2020, the State Department estimated that between 200 and 250 tons of cocaine were trafficked through Venezuela annually. The maritime shipments were shipped north from Venezuela's coastline using go-fast vessels, fishing boats, and container ships, as per the indictment. Air shipments were often dispatched from clandestine airstrips, typically made of dirt or grass, and also from commercial airports under the control of corrupt government and military officials.