Overview
- U.S. special operations forces captured Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores in Venezuela and moved them by helicopter to the USS Iwo Jima for transport to the United States, according to President Trump.
- Attorney General Pamela Bondi announced Southern District of New York charges that include narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, and machinegun and destructive-device offenses, and she confirmed Flores is also indicted.
- Justice Department filings allege Maduro led the state-linked Cartel de los Soles and worked with the FARC, ELN, and Mexican cartels to move multi-ton cocaine shipments toward the United States.
- The case names additional figures including Diosdado Cabello, former interior minister Ramón Rodríguez Chacín, Maduro’s son Nicolás Ernesto Maduro Guerra, and Tren de Aragua leader Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores.
- U.S. authorities are preparing initial court appearances in Manhattan, the charged offenses carry potential sentences from decades to life if convicted, and Mexico’s president issued an official rejection of the U.S. intervention as a U.S. senator relayed that no further military actions are expected.