The Department of Justice announced a $50 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro. Officials previously offered a $25 million reward for the dictator.
“Today, the Department of Justice and State Department are announcing a historic 50 million dollar award for information leading to the arrest of Nicolas Maduro,” Bondi said in a video shared to social media. “Maduro uses foreign terrorist organization like Tren de Aragua, Sinaloa, and Cartel of the Suns that bring deadly drugs and violence into our country. Today, the DEA has seized 30 tonnes of cocaine linked to Maduro, and his associates, with nearly 7 tons linked to Maduro himself, which represents a primary source of income for the deadly cartels based in Venezuela and Mexico.”
She added that the DOJ seized more than $700 million of assets connected to Maduro, including two private jets and nine vehicles.
“He is one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world and a threat to our national security,” Bondi explained. “Therefore, we’ve doubled his reward to 50 million dollars. Under President Trump’s leadership, Maduro will not escape justice and he will be held accountable for his despicable crimes.”
The State Department declared that Maduro has “strangled democracy and grasped at power” since 2020. “Maduro claimed to have won Venezuela’s July 28, 2024, presidential election but failed to present any evidence that he had prevailed,” the department stated. “The United States has refused to recognize Maduro as the winner of 2024 election and does not recognize him as the President of Venezuela.”
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil said in a statement obtained by the Associated Press that the reward is “pathetic.”
“We’re not surprised, coming from whom it comes from. The same one who promised a nonexistent ‘secret list’ of Epstein and who wallows in scandals for political favors,” he said, referring to the Justice Department’s messaging surrounding Jeffrey Epstein-related files.
