Washington D.C. – August 8, 2025 – Teh United States department of Justice and the Department of State announced today a critically important increase in the reward for facts leading to the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolรกs Maduro, raising the offer to $50 million.the announcement, made by Attorney General William Bondi in a video statement released Thursday, August 7th, marks a considerable escalation in U.S. efforts to hold Maduro accountable for alleged criminal activities.
Bondi stated that Maduro is “one of the largest drug dealers in the world and is a threat to our national security.” This follows a previous reward of $25 million offered in January 2024, representing a 100% increase.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil dismissed the reward offer as “the most silly smoke veil we have ever seen,” and asserted that “the dignity of our homeland is not for sale.” He characterized the move as “rough political propaganda.”
The U.S. Justice Department first indicted Maduro and several high-ranking Venezuelan officials in March 2020, during the administration of President Donald Trump, in the Southern district of New York. The charges include conspiracy to engage in “narcotic-terrorism.”
According to the Justice Department,Maduro allegedly leads a cocaine trafficking organization known as the “Cartel of the Suns” (Cartel de los Soles),accused of smuggling hundreds of tons of cocaine into the United States over two decades,generating hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. Key figures allegedly involved include former Venezuelan military officials such as Major General hugo Carvajal Barrios, previously sanctioned by the U.S.Treasury Department. The cartel is believed to operate primarily through clandestine airstrips in the Venezuelan states of Apure and Zulia, utilizing private jets to transport narcotics to Central America and Mexico for eventual entry into the U.S.
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(nvc/ita)