US ups Maduro bounty to $50M

United States Doubles Reward for Capturing Venezuelan Leader

The U.S. government has raised the reward for information leading to the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to $50 million—doubling the earlier offer of $25 million announced in January.

New Legal Threats Against Maduro

• Attorney General Pam Bondi declared Maduro “one of the world’s largest narco-traffickers” and a direct danger to national security.
• Maduro faces federal drug‑trafficking charges and narco‑terrorism conspiracies that were first indicted in New York in 2020 during President Donald Trump’s administration.
• The Justice Department has accused him of heading “The Cartel of the Suns,” a cocaine trafficking network that shipped hundreds of tons of narcotics into the United States over two decades and earned billions of dollars.
• Investigators linked the cartel to the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel.

Seizures and Asset Confiscations

According to Bondi, the DEA has seized 30 tons of cocaine tied to Maduro and his associates, with nearly seven tons directly linked to him. The U.S. has also confiscated over $700 million in Maduro‑related assets, including two Venezuelan government aircraft seized in September last year.

Potential Life‑Imprisonment for Maduro

Maduro, 62, faces possible life in prison if he is tried and convicted. He has previously dismissed the charges as “spurious, false” accusations.

Background on U.S. Non‑Recognition of Maduro

• Since taking office in 2013, Maduro has not been recognized by the U.S. as the legitimate President of Venezuela.
• The State Department described the 2018 presidential election as “deeply flawed.”
• In July 2024, Maduro fraudulently declared himself the winner of a presidential election despite contradictory evidence, leading the U.S. and many other countries to refuse recognition.
• The U.S. imposed an array of economic sanctions on Maduro’s government.

Recent Developments

In June, former Venezuelan intelligence chief Hugo Armando Carvajal pleaded guilty to U.S. drug trafficking and narco‑terrorism charges and offered U.S. authorities documents and testimony implicating Maduro.

Maduro’s reign of terror continues, the U.S. government cautioned, and under President Trump’s leadership, he will not evade justice and will be held accountable for his despicable crimes.