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The Trump administration announced Thursday that they would be offering $50 million to those who provide information leading to the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Maduro, a dictator, is accused by the U.S. of aiding drug cartels and gangs, as well as operating an authoritarian regime.
“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 to X. “He is one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world and a threat to our national security.”
By this point, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has apprehended 30 tons of cocaine connected to Maduro and his associates, with “nearly seven tons” of this being directly linked to Maduro, according to Bondi, “which represents a primary source of income for the deadly cartels based in Venezuela and Mexico.”
Furthermore, much of this cocaine is supposedly “laced with fentanyl,” resulting in “the loss and destruction of countless American lives,” the attorney general said.
This is not the first time Maduro has been targeted by the federal government. In 2020, he was charged by the Southern District of New York for drug trafficking, including narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess these weapons, according to the New York Post.
After this indictment, the first Trump administration offered $15 million for the dictator’s capture, which increased to $25 million under the Biden administration prior to the latest increase.
“The DOJ has seized over $700 million of Maduro linked assets, including two private jets, nine vehicles and more,” said Bondi. “Yet Maduro’s reign of terror continues.”
She continued, “He is one of the largest narco traffickers in the world, and a threat to our national security.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also criticized Maduro for his overt interference in the 2024 presidential election, Fox News reported, which the Carter Center even stated “did not meet international standards of electoral integrity at any of its stages” with clear bias in the dictator’s favor.
The dictator then issued an arrest warrant for his opponent, Edmundo González, who was said to have actually won in a landslide, for speaking out against the blatant fraud, forcing him to flee the country, Reuters wrote.
“One year since dictator Nicolás Maduro defied the will of the Venezuelan people by baselessly declaring himself the winner, the United States remains firm in its unwavering support to Venezuela’s restoration of democratic order and justice,” Rubio said in July. “Maduro is not the President of Venezuela and his regime is not the legitimate government.”
With this increased bounty, Bondi promised that “under President Trump’s leadership, Maduro will not escape justice, and he will be held accountable for his despicable crimes.”
