Nicolas Maduro

Nicolás Maduro Moros
Born:	November 23, 1962 Caracas, Venezuela
Charges:	Narco-terrorism conspiracy; Conspiracy to import cocaine; Use of machine guns and destructive devices; Conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices
Sentence:	None (awaiting trial)
Facility:	Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn
Status:	Indicted; in pretrial federal custody; not convicted

Nicolás Maduro Moros (born November 23, 1962) is a Venezuelan politician who served as President of Venezuela from 2013 until January 2026. In March 2020 a federal grand jury in the Southern District of New York returned an indictment charging him with narco-terrorism conspiracy and conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States. The indictment alleges that Maduro helped lead a drug-trafficking arrangement that U.S. prosecutors call the "Cartel of the Suns." He was taken into U.S. custody on January 3, 2026, following a military operation in Caracas. On January 5, 2026, he pleaded not guilty to all counts in a Manhattan federal court.

Maduro has not been tried, and he has not been convicted of any offense. He is being held without bail at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, while the case proceeds. His next scheduled court appearance is June 30, 2026. The U.S. government has stated the charges against him, and his defense has stated that he is innocent and that his removal to the United States was unlawful. The descriptions below reflect what the indictment and U.S. officials allege. None of it has been established at trial.

Background

Early life

Nicolás Maduro Moros was born on November 23, 1962, in Caracas. He grew up in a working-class part of the city. His father was a trade union leader. His mother was born in Cúcuta, a Colombian town near the border, a detail that has fed long-running and unproven claims that Maduro himself was born in Colombia.

Maduro attended a public high school in Caracas and took part in student politics. Records do not confirm that he graduated. In the early 1980s he joined a Marxist-Leninist party in Venezuela. In 1986 he spent a year in Cuba for political training at a school run by the Union of Young Communists.

Bus driver and union organizer

After returning from Cuba, Maduro drove a bus for the Caracas Metro. He became active in the transit workers' union and built a reputation as an organizer. That work put him in contact with the broader labor movement and gave him a base among the city's working class.

Rise in Venezuelan politics

Maduro aligned himself with Hugo Chávez, an army officer who led a failed coup in 1992. After Chávez was jailed, Maduro joined the civilian wing of the Bolivarian movement and campaigned for his release. During this period he met Cilia Flores, a lawyer who worked on the legal effort that won Chávez a pardon in 1994. Flores later became his wife.

Chávez won the presidency in 1998. Maduro's career moved quickly after that. He was elected to the National Assembly in 2000 and became its president in 2005. In 2006 Chávez appointed him Foreign Minister, a post he held for six years. As foreign minister he deepened Venezuela's ties with Cuba, Iran, and Russia.

Presidency

In December 2012, with Chávez gravely ill, the president named Maduro as his chosen successor. Chávez died on March 5, 2013. Maduro took office on an interim basis and then won a special election on April 14, 2013, by a margin of about 50.6 percent to 49.1 percent over Henrique Capriles.

His years in office coincided with a deep economic crisis. Venezuela's economy depends heavily on oil. Oil prices fell, domestic production dropped, and the government printed money to cover the gap. Inflation ran past one million percent in 2018. The economy shrank by roughly three-quarters between 2014 and 2021. Food and medicine became scarce.

Close to eight million Venezuelans left the country during these years. Most settled in neighboring nations. Colombia took in roughly 2.8 million.

Venezuela held a presidential election in July 2024. The opposition published tally sheets showing its candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, ahead by a wide margin. Maduro's government declared him the winner and did not release detailed vote counts. The result was disputed by opposition groups and a number of foreign governments.

U.S. Indictment

The 2020 charges

On March 26, 2020, federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York unsealed an indictment against Maduro and 14 other current and former Venezuelan officials. The charging document had first been filed under seal years earlier. Prosecutors alleged that Maduro and his co-defendants ran what they called a "narco-terrorism partnership" with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC.

The indictment charged Maduro with four counts:

• Narco-terrorism conspiracy, which carries a 20-year mandatory minimum and a maximum of life.
• Conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States, which carries a 10-year mandatory minimum and a maximum of life.
• Use and carrying of machine guns and destructive devices during the alleged conspiracies, which carries a 30-year mandatory minimum.
• Conspiracy to use and carry machine guns and destructive devices, which carries a maximum of life.

Prosecutors describe the "Cartel of the Suns" (Cártel de los Soles) as an arrangement involving senior figures in Venezuela's military. The name refers to the sun insignia worn by Venezuelan generals. U.S. authorities allege that by 2004, more than 250 tons of cocaine were moving through Venezuela each year under the protection of officials they describe as corrupt. The case is docketed in the Southern District of New York and is being handled by Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein.

The superseding indictment

A superseding indictment was unsealed on January 3, 2026, after Maduro was taken into custody. It added Cilia Flores as a defendant. Prosecutors broadened the alleged conspiracy beyond the FARC to include the Venezuelan group Tren de Aragua, the Colombian guerrilla group ELN, and Mexican organizations including the Sinaloa Cartel and the Zetas.

The superseding indictment alleges that Maduro and Flores worked together over a period of years to traffic cocaine that Venezuelan authorities had seized, and that they relied on what prosecutors call "state-sponsored gangs" to protect the operation. It further alleges that they ordered violence against people who owed drug debts or who interfered with the trafficking. These are allegations. The defense disputes them, and they have not been proven in court.

The Justice Department also revised how it described the "Cartel of the Suns." Rather than presenting it as a formal, structured cartel, prosecutors reframed it as a patronage system and a culture of corruption tied to drug money inside Venezuela's military and political elite.

Reward and Custody

The reward

When the indictment was unsealed in 2020, the U.S. State Department offered up to $15 million for information leading to Maduro's arrest or conviction under its Narcotics Rewards Program. The figure was raised to $25 million on January 10, 2025. On August 7, 2025, the State Department doubled it again to $50 million, the largest reward the United States had posted for a sitting foreign head of state. The reward offer ended after his capture.

Capture and transfer

For most of the period after the 2020 indictment, Maduro remained in Venezuela and continued to serve as president. He was outside the reach of U.S. courts, and Venezuela has no extradition treaty with the United States that would have produced his surrender.

On January 3, 2026, U.S. military forces conducted an operation in Caracas that ended with Maduro and Flores taken into custody. President Trump announced the capture the same day. The pair were transported to the United States to face the federal charges.

The operation drew criticism from legal scholars and from officials at the United Nations who argued that the removal violated international law and Venezuela's sovereignty. Several experts said the manner of his transfer, by military force rather than extradition, could become a defense argument over the court's jurisdiction.

Pretrial detention

Maduro is held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. He is subject to Special Administrative Measures, a high-security regime that keeps him in his cell for about 23 hours a day and sharply limits his contact with the outside world. He is detained without bail. Legal observers have said the case could take years to reach trial, given the scale of the charges, the volume of evidence, and the constitutional questions raised by the defense.

On January 5, 2026, Maduro and Flores appeared before Judge Hellerstein and both pleaded not guilty. Through an interpreter, Maduro identified himself as the president of Venezuela and described himself as a prisoner of war. The two returned to court for a pretrial hearing on March 26, 2026, where the judge took up a dispute over legal fees. A further hearing is set for June 30, 2026. No trial date has been set.

Maduro is represented by Barry J. Pollack, a criminal defense attorney who previously represented WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Pollack has said Maduro was the head of a sovereign state at the time of his capture and has indicated the defense will challenge the legality of the operation that brought him to the United States.

Situation in Venezuela

After Maduro was removed from the country, Delcy Rodríguez, who had served as his vice president, was sworn in as acting president on January 5, 2026. The Venezuelan government has condemned the U.S. operation. The legitimacy of the removal remains in dispute internationally.

Related prosecutions

Other Venezuelan officials have been prosecuted in connection with the same case. Hugo Carvajal Barrios, a former military intelligence director, pleaded guilty to narco-terrorism and drug trafficking charges in June 2025 after his extradition from Spain. Clíver Alcalá Cordones, a retired general, pleaded guilty in 2023 to providing material support and firearms to the FARC and was later sentenced to more than 21 years in prison.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is Nicolás Maduro charged with?

Maduro is charged in the Southern District of New York with narco-terrorism conspiracy, conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States, and two weapons counts involving machine guns and destructive devices. The U.S. government alleges he helped lead a drug-trafficking arrangement it calls the "Cartel of the Suns." He has pleaded not guilty. He has not been tried or convicted.

Q: Has Maduro been convicted?

No. Maduro has been indicted and is awaiting trial. He pleaded not guilty to all counts on January 5, 2026. As of June 2026, no trial date has been set and no verdict has been reached. The allegations against him have not been proven in court.

Q: When was Maduro first indicted?

A federal grand jury in Manhattan returned the indictment under seal years earlier, and the Justice Department unsealed it on March 26, 2020, during the first Trump administration. It charged Maduro and 14 other current and former Venezuelan officials. A superseding indictment, unsealed on January 3, 2026, added his wife Cilia Flores and broadened the alleged conspiracy.

Q: Where is Maduro now?

Maduro is held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, in pretrial federal custody. He is subject to Special Administrative Measures, a restrictive high-security regime, and is detained without bail while the case proceeds.

Q: How was Maduro brought to the United States?

On January 3, 2026, U.S. military forces conducted an operation in Caracas that ended with Maduro and Flores in custody. They were transported to the United States to face the federal charges. Legal scholars and UN officials have criticized the operation, and Maduro's defense has said his removal was unlawful.

Q: What was the reward for Maduro?

The State Department first offered up to $15 million in 2020 for information leading to his arrest or conviction. The figure rose to $25 million on January 10, 2025, and to $50 million on August 7, 2025. The reward offer ended after his capture in January 2026.

Q: What is the "Cartel of the Suns"?

The "Cartel of the Suns" (Cártel de los Soles) is the term U.S. prosecutors use for an alleged drug-trafficking arrangement involving senior figures in Venezuela's military and government. The name refers to the sun insignia worn by Venezuelan generals. In its 2026 filings, the Justice Department described it as a patronage system and a culture of corruption tied to drug money rather than a formal cartel.

Q: What sentence could Maduro face if convicted?

If he were convicted on all counts, the charges carry significant mandatory minimums. The narco-terrorism conspiracy count carries a 20-year minimum, the cocaine importation count a 10-year minimum, and the machine-gun count a 30-year minimum, with maximums up to life. These figures describe the possible exposure under the statutes. Maduro has not been convicted of any offense.

Q: Who is running Venezuela now?

Delcy Rodríguez, who had served as Maduro's vice president, was sworn in as acting president on January 5, 2026, after Maduro was removed from the country. The Venezuelan government has condemned the U.S. operation, and the legitimacy of the removal remains in dispute internationally.

Terminology

• Narco-terrorism: Under U.S. law, the use of drug trafficking to fund or support terrorist activity, or the use of terrorist methods to advance drug trafficking. Charges can apply when drug proceeds are alleged to support a designated terrorist organization.

• Superseding indictment: A replacement indictment that adds charges, defendants, or allegations to an earlier one.

• Special Administrative Measures: Restrictive federal confinement conditions imposed on certain high-security detainees, limiting communication and contact with others.

• Cartel of the Suns (Cártel de los Soles): The term U.S. prosecutors use for an alleged trafficking arrangement tied to figures in Venezuela's armed forces, named for the sun insignia worn by Venezuelan generals.

See Also

• MDC Brooklyn
• Manuel Noriega
• Narco-Terrorism
• Drug Trafficking