On Thursday, the US Justice Department announced the indictment of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, offering a $15 million reward for information leading to his capture, as reported on March 26, 2020.
According to the indictment, Maduro is the head of a cocaine trafficking group called "The Cartel of the Suns," which allegedly exported hundreds of tonnes of drugs in collaboration with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, a terrorist organization.
More than a dozen other officials of the Maduro regime, including members of the Venezuelan military and judiciary, including the country's chief justice, were also indicted.
The charges, issued in multiple US jurisdictions, including New York and Miami, range from conspiracy to narco-terrorism to money laundering.
US Attorney General Bill Barr stated, "For more than 20 years, Maduro and a number of high-ranking colleagues allegedly conspired with the FARC, causing tons of cocaine to enter and devastate American communities."
"It's time to call out this regime for what it is," Barr added. "The Maduro regime is awash in corruption and criminality."
Other high-ranking officials charged include Diosdado Cabello, the former speaker of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez, and former military intelligence head Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios.
The State Department also announced a $10 million reward for Cabello, Alcala, and Carvajal.
