US Links Nicolás Maduro to the Sinaloa Cartel; Raises Reward to $50 Million For His Capture

The US Attorney General’s Office points to alleged ties between the Venezuelan president and the Sinaloa Cartel

The United States government has accused Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro of alleged ties to the Sinaloa Cartel and other criminal organizations, offering $50 million to anyone who provides information leading to his capture.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced efforts to capture Nicolás Maduro, who had already been indicted by the United States during Donald Trump’s first term in 2020 for drug trafficking and terrorism. In January, the United States increased the reward to $25 million.

Bondi shared a video on social media in which she described the reward as “historic” and called Maduro one of the world’s largest drug traffickers and a threat to U.S. national security.

“Maduro uses foreign terrorist organizations like Sinaloa and the Cartel del Sol to bring lethal drugs and violence into our country,” she stated.

In addition, the US Attorney announced that to date, “the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has seized 30 tons of cocaine linked to Maduro and his associates,” with nearly seven tons linked to the Venezuelan president, “representing a primary source of income for cartels based in Venezuela and Mexico.”

Bondi also revealed that the US Department of Justice has seized more than $700 million in assets linked to Maduro, as well as two private planes and nine vehicles.

“Maduro will not escape justice and will be held accountable for his atrocious crimes,” the Attorney General concluded in her message.

The First Reward for Nicolás Maduro

Just last August 2, the DEA ratified its $25 million reward for information leading to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who is linked to the so-called Cartel of the Suns, directly linking the politician to cocaine trafficking and the possession of machine guns.

Given this, the Organization of Politically Persecuted Venezuelans in Exile (VEPPEX) called on US President Donald Trump to arrest President Nicolás Maduro and 400 other Venezuelan officials, after Washington declared the Cartel of the Suns, which it links to Chavismo, a terrorist organization.

The association, based in Florida, home to the largest Venezuelan diaspora in the United States, requested in an open letter to Trump that “the Department of Justice go after the more than 400 Venezuelan officials involved in the cartel, starting with Maduro and Diosdado Cabello, on charges of terrorism and drug trafficking.”

It urged the offering of rewards and the launching of intelligence operations to capture cartel leaders “like Maduro and Cabello (current Minister of the Interior),” working with agencies such as the DEA and international allies, stated the letter signed by VEPPEX president José Antonio Colina.

This is what we know about the Cartel of the Suns, a terrorist organization

Background: The United States government, through the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), designated the Venezuelan Cartel of the Suns as a foreign terrorist organization, citing its criminal structure, ties to irregular armed groups, and its involvement in activities that threaten international security, public order, and regional stability.

The US administration claims that the Venezuelan organization, comprised of senior military and political leaders from that country, operates as a criminal arm of the Chavista regime, with direct involvement in drug and arms trafficking, money laundering, and protection of foreign terrorist cells.

“The United States will employ all available resources to prevent Nicolás Maduro from continuing to profit from the destruction of American lives and the destabilization of our hemisphere,” OFAC stated on its X account.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on Saturday through his account on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that “Maduro is not the president of Venezuela” and that “his regime is not a legitimate government.” In his post, Rubio also noted that Nicolás Maduro “is the head of the Cartel of the Suns, a narco-terrorist organization that has taken over a country,” and noted that the Venezuelan president faces drug trafficking charges on US soil.

Source: La Silla Rota