Attorney General Pam Bondi Released the Maduro Indictment. Here's What It Says.

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The United States carried out strikes in Venezuela today and arrested Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. The U.S. launched a "large scale" strike against the South American nation, including on military facilities. The move came after months of build up in the region. In recent weeks, the U.S. had seized two oil tankers off the coast of Venezuela and conducted kinetic strikes on narco-terrorist vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific. 

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Both Maduro and his wife were indicted in the Southern District of New York. Attorney General Pam Bondi shared news of the indictment on X, and here's what that indictment entails:

"Nicholas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have been indicted in the Southern District of New York. Nicolas Maduro has been charged with Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy, Cocaine Importation Conspiracy, Possession of Machineguns and Destructive Devices, and Conspiracy to Possess Machineguns and Destructive Devices against the United States," Bondi wrote.

She continued, "They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts. On behalf of the entire U.S. DOJ, I would like to thank President Trump for having the courage to demand accountability on behalf of the American People, and a huge thank you to our brave military who conducted the incredible and highly successful mission to capture these two alleged international narco traffickers."

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Bondi also shared the unsealed indictment from US Attorney Jay Clayton.

Here's some of what it says:

"For over 25 years, leaders of Venezuela have abused their positions of public trust and corrupted once-legitimate institutions to import tons of cocaine into the United States. NICOLAS MADURO MOROS, the defendant, is at the forefront of that corruption and has partnered with his co-conspirators to use his illegally obtained authority and the institutions he corroded to transport thousands of tons of cocaine to the United States. Since his early days in the Venezuelan government, MADURO MOROS has tarnished every public office he has held. As a member of Venezuela's National Assembly, MADURO MOROS moved loads of cocaine under the protection of Venezuelan law enforcement. As Venezuela's Minister of Foreign Affairs, MADURO MOROS provided Venezuelan diplomatic passports to drug traffickers and facilitated diplomatic cover for planes used by money launderers to repatriate drug proceeds from Mexico to Venezuela. As Venezuela's President and now-de facto ruler, MADURO MOROS allows cocaine-fueled corruption to flourish for his own benefit, for the benefit of members of hisruling regime, and for the benefit of his family members."

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It not only lists Maduro as a defendant, but also Diosdad Cabello Rondon, the Minister of the Interior; Ramon Rodriguez Chacin, the former Minister of the Interior; Cilia Adela Flores de Maduro, who "acted as the President of the National Assembly;" Nicolas Ernesto Maduro Guerra, the son of Maduro and a "corrupt Venezuelan politician;" and Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, a leader or co-leader of the Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang.

Maduro was also indicted on similar charges in 2020.

At the time, the Department of Justice said similar things about Maduro. "The Venezuelan regime, once led by Nicolas Maduro Moros, remains plagued by criminality and corruption," said then-Attorney General Barr. For more than 20 years, Maduro and a number of high-ranking colleagues allegedly conspired with the FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia), causing tons of cocaine to enter and devastate American communities. Today's announcement is focused on rooting out the extensive corruption within the Venezuelan government – a system constructed and controlled to enrich those at the highest levels of government."

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Maduro will reportedly be held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn while he awaits trial.

Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.

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