The US Justice Department announced the indictment on Thursday of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and offered a $15 million reward for information leading to his capture.
The Justice Department called Mr. Maduro the head of a cocaine trafficking group called “The Cartel of the Suns” that exported hundreds of tonnes of drugs working hand in hand with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which the U.S. has officially labelled a “terrorist organization.”
Also indicted were more than a dozen other officials of the Maduro regime, including members of the Venezuelan military and judiciary, including the country’s Chief Justice.
The indictments were issued in multiple U.S. jurisdictions including New York and Miami, with charges running from “conspiracy to narco-terrorism” to money laundering.
“For more than 20 years, Maduro and a number of high-ranking colleagues allegedly conspired with the FARC, causing tons of cocaine to enter and devastate American communities,” said Attorney General Bill Barr. “It’s time to call out this regime for what it is,” he said.
