As of early January 2026, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has been formally charged by U.S. federal prosecutors with serious drug and weapons offenses, stemming from a long-running indictment that was recently updated and enforced after his capture in a U.S. military operation in Venezuela.

The main charges

Maduro is facing four federal criminal counts in the U.S. Southern District of New York, based on a superseding indictment unsealed in January 2026:

  1. Narco-terrorism conspiracy – Accusing Maduro of leading or participating in a conspiracy to support and profit from international drug trafficking, using Venezuela’s state institutions to flood the United States with cocaine, in coordination with armed groups like FARC and criminal gangs such as Tren de Aragua.
  1. Cocaine importation conspiracy – Charging him with conspiring to import thousands of tons of cocaine into the United States over many years, enriching himself, his family, and senior Venezuelan officials.
  1. Possession of machineguns and destructive devices – Alleging that Maduro and his associates possessed military-grade weapons (machineguns, grenades, etc.) as part of their drug-trafficking and narco-terrorism activities.
  1. Conspiracy to possess machineguns and destructive devices – Charging him with conspiring with others to obtain and keep those weapons for use in the drug trade and to protect their operations.

What the indictment says he did

Prosecutors allege that Maduro, over more than two decades, abused his positions in the Venezuelan government (including as foreign minister and president) to run a massive drug-trafficking enterprise, often called the “Cartel de los Soles” in U.S. indictments.

Key allegations include:

  • Using his role as foreign minister to sell diplomatic passports to drug traffickers, allowing them to move drug money and evade law enforcement.
  • Facilitating the movement of private planes under diplomatic cover to transport cocaine and avoid detection.
  • Working with his wife, Cilia Flores, and son, Nicolás Ernesto Maduro, to traffic cocaine seized by Venezuelan law enforcement, using state-sponsored gangs to protect and move the drugs.
  • Ordering or authorizing kidnappings, beatings, and murders of people who owed money or threatened their drug operations.
  • Collaborating with major cartels (like the Sinaloa Cartel and the Zetas) and criminal gangs (including Tren de Aragua) to move cocaine into the U.S..

Context of the 2026 case

These charges build on a prior U.S. indictment from March 2020, when the Trump administration first charged Maduro with narco-terrorism and cocaine importation conspiracy, accusing him of leading the “Cartel de los Soles”. The 2026 superseding indictment adds more detail and updates the charges after Maduro’s recent capture and transfer to U.S. custody.

The U.S. Justice Department frames this as holding Maduro accountable for using Venezuela’s government to turn the country into a narco-state that has flooded the U.S. with cocaine and supported violent armed groups.

Who else is charged

Maduro is not alone in the indictment; the same charges also apply to:

  • His wife, Cilia Flores, accused of brokering meetings between drug traffickers and Venezuela’s anti‑drug chief in exchange for bribes.
  • His son, Nicolás Ernesto Maduro.
  • Senior Venezuelan officials, including Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, former Interior Minister Ramón Rodríguez Chacín, and others.
  • A leader of the Tren de Aragua gang, Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores.

Where the case stands now

As of early January 2026, Maduro is in U.S. custody and is expected to be arraigned in federal court in the Southern District of New York on these four charges. If convicted, he could face decades in prison under U.S. federal sentencing guidelines for drug and weapons crimes.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.