US doubles bounty on 'largest narco-trafficker' Maduro
US Attorney General Pam Bondi described Maduro (left) as one of the "largest narco-traffickers in the world" and "a threat to national security". File photo: Reuters
The United States has doubled its bounty on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro – who faces federal drug-trafficking charges – to US$50 million, a move Caracas described as "pathetic" and "ridiculous".
Washington, which does not recognise Maduro's past two election victories, accuses the South American country's leader of leading a cocaine trafficking gang.
"Today, the Department of Justice and State Department are announcing a historic US$50 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Nicolas Maduro," Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a video on social media. The previous bounty was set in January.
"He is one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world and a threat to our national security."
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil said Bondi's "pathetic" bounty was "the most ridiculous smokescreen we have ever seen".
In 2020, during President Donald Trump's first term in office, Maduro and other high-ranking Venezuelan officials were indicted in federal court in New York on several charges including participating in a "narco-terrorism" conspiracy.
The Justice Department accused Maduro of leading a cocaine trafficking gang called "The Cartel of the Suns" that shipped hundreds of tonnes of narcotics into the US over two decades, earning hundreds of millions of dollars.
Investigators say the cartel worked hand in hand with the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which the US has labelled a terrorist organisation.
Bondi said Maduro also had worked with the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and Mexico's Sinaloa cartel.
The US Drug Enforcement Administration "has seized 30 tonnes of cocaine linked to Maduro and his associates, with nearly seven tonnes linked to Maduro himself", Bondi said.
The US government has also seized more than US$700 million in Maduro-linked assets, including two Venezuelan government aircraft, since September, according to Bondi.
The 62-year-old Maduro, a former bus driver and trade unionist, faces up to life in prison if he can be tried and is convicted.
In June, Venezuela's former intelligence chief Hugo Armando Carvajal pleaded guilty to US drug trafficking and narco-terrorism charges.
The Miami Herald, citing sources familiar with the case, said Carvajal had offered to provide US authorities with documents and testimony implicating Maduro. (AFP)
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