The United States doubled the reward for the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to $50 million (€43 million).
The Trump administration has accused Maduro of being the world’s biggest drug trafficker and working with cartels to smuggle fentanyl-laced cocaine into the US.
In January, the announced bounty was fixed at $25 million.
The Department of Justice and State Department on Thursday announced a historic $50 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Nicolas Maduro, Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a video on social media.
“He is one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world and a threat to our national security,” she said.
What are the allegations against Nicolas Maduro?
Bondi accused Maduro of working with prominent criminal groups such as Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel, in a video she posted on X.
During Trump’s first term, Maduro and other high-ranking Venezuelans were indicted on several charges, including participating in a “narco-terrorism” conspiracy.
US authorities “seized 30 tons of cocaine linked to Maduro and his associates, with nearly seven tons linked to Maduro himself,” Bondi said.
Bondi also said the Justice Department seized assets worth more than $700 million linked to Maduro, including two private jets, and said 7 million tons of cocaine had been traced directly to the leftist leader.
“Yet Maduro’s reign of terror continues,” she said.
How did Venezuela respond to the Maduro bounty increase?
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil called the increase in bounty “pathetic” and accused Bondi of orchestrating a “crude political propaganda operation.”
Gil said on Telegram that the announcement was “the most ridiculous smokescreen ever seen.”
The dignity of our homeland is not for sale. We repudiate this crude political propaganda operation,” he added.
Referring to Bondi, Gil said, “While we’re debunking the terrorist plots orchestrated from her country, this woman is coming out with a media circus to please the defeated far-right in Venezuela.” (DW)
The post US doubles bounty on Venezuela’s Maduro to $50 million appeared first on Newswire.
