Overview
- After U.S. forces captured Nicolás Maduro and moved him to New York, the Justice Department issued a revised indictment that no longer alleges he led a formal cartel.
- The new document mentions the 'Cartel de los Soles' twice and characterizes it as clientelism and corruption funded by narcotics, whereas the 2020 indictment cited the term 32 times and cast Maduro as its leader.
- Prosecutors maintain core drug-trafficking conspiracy allegations and other narcoterrorism-related counts, keeping the criminal case intact despite the reframing.
- The change intensifies doubts about 2025 terrorism designations by the Treasury and orders at State referencing the 'Cartel de los Soles,' which analysts note do not appear in DEA or UNODC threat assessments.
- The indictment adds the leader of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua as a co-defendant, a connection experts called weak, while Maduro remains in custody at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center.