US doubles reward for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's arrest to $50m
'He is one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world and a threat to our national security. Therefore, we doubled his reward to $50 million,' Bondi said in a video posted on X.
'Under President Trump's leadership, Maduro will not escape justice, and he will be held accountable for his despicable crimes,' she added.
Today, @TheJusticeDept and @StateDept are announcing a $50 MILLION REWARD for information leading to the arrest of Nicolás Maduro. pic.twitter.com/D8LNqjS9yk
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) August 7, 2025
63-year-old Maduro who has been the President of Venezuela since 2013, has had a hostile relationship with the US, which worsened further under the Trump administration.
Maduro, who began his career as a bus driver and then a trade union leader, was the handpicked successor of former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who passed away in March 2013.
He has been accused of rigging the elections in Venezuela to stay in power and silencing dissent.
During the first Trump presidency, the US Department of Justice had accused Maduro of working with the Colombian rebel group FARC to 'flood the US with cocaine'.
The US has accused Maduro of having direct links with crime syndicates Tren de Aragua, Cartel of the Suns and the notorious Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico, which are involved in drug trafficking and other organised crimes.
According to Bondi, the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) had 'seized 30 tons of cocaine linked to Maduro and his associates, with nearly seven tons linked to Maduro himself'.
Reacting to the US doubling the reward money on Maduro, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil said the move did not come as a surprise and claimed that it was an attempt to create a distraction from the Epstein files controversy.
'It does not surprise us, coming from who it comes from. The same one who promised a non-existent 'secret list' of Epstein and who wallows in scandals of political favours,' he said in a post on Telegram.
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