MIAMI (AP) — The Trump administration is doubling to $50 million a reward for the arrest of Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro, accusing him of being one of the world’s largest narco-traffickers and working with cartels to flood the U.S. with fentanyl-laced cocaine.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, Maduro will not escape justice and he will be held accountable for his despicable crimes,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said Thursday in a video announcing the reward.
Maduro was indicted in Manhattan federal court in 2020, during the first Trump presidency, along with several close allies on federal charges of narco-terrorism and conspiracy to import cocaine. At the time, the U.S. offered a $15 million reward for his arrest. That was later raised by the Biden administration to $25 million — the same amount the U.S. offered for the capture of Osama bin Laden following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
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Despite the big bounty, Maduro remains entrenched after defying the U.S., the European Union and several Latin American governments who condemned his 2024 reelection as a sham and recognized his opponent as Venezuela’s duly elected president.
Last month, the Trump administration struck a deal to secure the release of 10 Americans jailed in the capital, Caracas, in exchange