The Trump administration on Thursday offered a $50 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.
“Maduro uses foreign terrorist organizations like [Tren de Aragua], Sinaloa and Cartel of the Suns to bring deadly drugs and violence into our country,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a video posted on X.
The Drug Enforcement Administration has thus far seized 30 tons of cocaine linked to Maduro and his associates, Bondi said, and “nearly seven tons linked to Maduro himself, which represents a primary source of income for the deadly cartels based in Venezuela and Mexico.”
AFP via Getty Images
The attorney general noted that cocaine linked to Maduro’s smuggling scheme “is often laced with fentanyl” and has resulted in “the loss and destruction of countless American lives.”
In March 2020, Maduro, 62, was hit with a slew of federal charges in the Southern District of New York related to his drug-trafficking efforts, including narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.
Following the indictment, President Trump’s first administration had initially offered a $15 million reward for his capture.
The State Department, under former President Joe Biden, raised the bounty to $25 million on Jan. 10, which the Trump administration doubled on Thursday.
“The DOJ has seized over $700 million of Maduro-linked assets, including two private jets, nine vehicles and more. Yet Maduro’s reign of terror continues,” Bondi said.
