Overview
- American forces captured Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores and transferred them to Stewart Air National Guard Base before moving them to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
- An indictment unsealed in the Southern District of New York charges both with narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, and related weapons offenses, according to U.S. officials.
- Attorney General Pam Bondi said the pair will face U.S. courts, asserting they will encounter the full force of American justice on American soil.
- A detailed allegation cites a 2007 payment to arrange access to Venezuela’s anti-drug director and recurring bribes linked to cocaine flights, with a portion allegedly routed to Flores.
- Flores is portrayed in reporting as a powerful behind-the-scenes operator who shaped Venezuela’s judiciary, and her family’s prior U.S. drug case convictions include two nephews found guilty in 2017 and freed in a 2022 prisoner exchange.