How Cocaine and Corruption Led to the Indictment of Maduro
How cocaine and corruption led to the indictment of Maduro is detailed in a newly unsealed U.S. Justice Department indictment.
The document
accuses the captured Venezuelan leader of running a government that partnered
with violent cartels to flood the United States with cocaine, fuelling a regime
of bribery, kidnapping, and murder.
How Cocaine and Corruption Led: The Core Charges
The indictment,
unsealed after a military operation captured Maduro, charges him with narco-terrorism
conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, and weapons offenses.
It alleges his
government provided law enforcement cover and logistical support to groups like
the Sinaloa Cartel, facilitating up to 250 tons of cocaine annually
through Venezuela by 2020.
The U.S. accuses
Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, of allowing "cocaine-fuelled corruption
to flourish" for personal and political gain.
How Cocaine and Corruption Led: A Regime Built on Bribes and Violence
2
The charges paint a
picture of a state captured by drug trafficking.
How cocaine and
corruption led to extreme violence is explicit: the couple is accused of
ordering kidnappings, beatings, and murders against those who crossed their
operation.
Read more:
Flores is
separately accused of accepting hundreds of thousands in bribes to arrange
meetings between traffickers and Venezuela's anti-drug officials, creating a
perverse system where the state protected the very trade it was meant to
combat.
The Path to U.S. Court
Following the
audacious raid, Maduro was flown to New York and is being held at a federal
detention centre.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi stated he
"will soon face the full wrath of American justice.
The operation was
described by officials as a "law enforcement function" to apprehend a
fugitive with a $15 million bounty, setting the stage for one of the most
significant narco-terrorism trials in history.
Source Information:
This report is based on the detailed indictment and coverage from The
Associated Press.
You can read the
full AP report here:
How cocaine and corruption led to the indictment of Maduro
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