The US Department of Justice on January 5 released an additional indictment against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, along with his wife Cilia Flores, son Nicolas Maduro Guerra and some other Venezuelan officials.
According to the indictment, federal prosecutors in New York accused that "for more than 25 years, Venezuelan leaders have abused their entrusted power, undermining institutions that were once legal to bring tons of cocaine into the US".
The document stated that Mr. Maduro "stands at the forefront of this corrupt system", using "illegal power and institutions that he has degenerated into to transport thousands of tons of cocaine into the US".
The indictment states that in various positions in the government, Mr. Maduro issued Venezuelan diplomatic passports to drug lords, creating a diplomatic cover for aircraft used to launder drug money from Mexico to Venezuela. His accomplices are accused of "colluding with the most violent and dangerous drug trafficking and drug terror organizations in the world" for personal gain.
Ms. Cilia Flores is accused of receiving "hundreds of thousands of USD in bribes" to broker a meeting in 2007 between a large-scale drug lord and the Director of the Venezuelan National Anti-Drug Agency.
The indictment also stated that in the period 2004-2015, when participating in the cocaine trafficking ring, Mr. Maduro and Ms. Flores together "ordered the kidnapping, assault and murder of drug debtors or harmed their trafficking activities", including ordering the murder of a local drug lord in Caracas.
Mr. Maduro is prosecuted for charges including: conspiracy to terrorize drugs, conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and weapons of mass destruction, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and weapons of mass destruction.
Meanwhile, Ms. Flores faces charges including: conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and weapons of mass destruction, and conspiracy to possess these weapons.
