Inside US indictment: Maduro’s son used state planes for drugs, first lady brokered narco deals

Washington: A superseding federal indictment unsealed by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York has laid out sweeping allegations against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro Moros and senior figures of his regime, accusing them of running a decades-long narco-terrorism and drug-trafficking enterprise that prosecutors say transformed the Venezuelan state into what they describe as a cartel structure.

According to the indictment, Maduro and his inner circle allegedly led the Cartel de los Soles (“Cartel of the Suns”), a criminal network accused of abusing Venezuela’s military, diplomatic, oil and law-enforcement institutions to facilitate the production, transport and importation of thousands of tonnes of cocaine into the United States over more than 25 years.

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Alliances with cartels and terrorist groups

US prosecutors allege that the operation relied on partnerships with multiple Foreign Terrorist Organizations and transnational criminal groups. These included Colombia’s FARC and ELN, which allegedly controlled cocaine production in jungle laboratories and used Venezuelan territory as a safe haven; Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel and Los Zetas, which prosecutors say managed trans-shipment routes through Central America; and Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua (TdA), a violent prison-based gang led by Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, known as “Niño Guerrero”.

According to the indictment, Tren de Aragua provided logistics support, coastal protection and security for drug shipments, while Venezuelan military units allegedly secured airstrips, ports and transport corridors.

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Use of state assets and diplomatic cover

Federal prosecutors claim Maduro “tarnished every office he held,” using state resources to shield traffickers from scrutiny. While serving as Venezuela’s foreign minister, Maduro allegedly authorised the sale of Venezuelan diplomatic passports to drug traffickers, enabling them to move proceeds between Mexico and Venezuela without law-enforcement interference.

The indictment highlights repeated use of the “Presidential Hangar” at Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía for large-scale cocaine shipments.

Among the incidents cited:

The 2006 DC-9 shipment: More than 5.5 tonnes of cocaine were allegedly flown to Mexico aboard a DC-9 jet. When the aircraft was seized, prosecutors say Diosdado Cabello Rondón accepted a $2.5 million bribe to ensure those involved were not arrested.

The 2013 Paris shipment: Approximately 1.3 tonnes of cocaine were allegedly transported to France via a commercial flight, one of the largest drug seizures ever recorded in Europe.

PDVSA aircraft: Prosecutors allege that aircraft belonging to Venezuela’s state-run oil company, PDVSA, were repeatedly used to transport narcotics.

Allegations against Maduro’s family

The indictment extends to Maduro’s immediate family, alleging their direct involvement in drug trafficking and corruption.

First Lady Cilia Adela Flores de Maduro is accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to broker meetings between major drug traffickers and Venezuelan anti-drug officials. Prosecutors allege that in 2007 she arranged a meeting between a trafficker and Néstor Reverol Torres, then director of Venezuela’s National Anti-Drug Office.

Following that meeting, prosecutors say the trafficker paid monthly bribes to Reverol, along with an additional $100,000 for every cocaine-laden flight to guarantee safe passage. Portions of those payments were allegedly funnelled to Flores.

Beyond brokering protection, the indictment claims that between 2004 and 2015, Flores and Maduro coordinated the trafficking of cocaine that had already been seized by Venezuelan authorities. Prosecutors allege the shipments were escorted by armed military units and protected by state-backed gangs known as colectivos.

To enforce discipline and protect profits, Maduro and Flores are accused of ordering kidnappings, beatings and murders of individuals who undermined the operation or failed to repay drug debts.

Maduro’s son, Nicolás Ernesto Maduro Guerra, known as “Nicolasito” or “The Prince,” is accused of using PDVSA aircraft to transport drugs. Prosecutors allege that between 2014 and 2015, he used a PDVSA Falcon 900 jet to travel twice monthly to Margarita Island, where the plane was allegedly loaded with large, tape-wrapped packages of narcotics, sometimes with assistance from armed military personnel.

Witnesses cited in the indictment claim that during one loading operation, Maduro Guerra boasted the aircraft could “go wherever it wanted,” including into the United States without consequence.

Expanding routes and funding politics

The indictment further alleges that in 2017, Maduro Guerra coordinated shipments of hundreds of kilograms of cocaine to Miami and discussed using scrap-metal containers to smuggle drugs into the Port of New York.

In 2020, prosecutors say he met representatives of Colombia’s FARC in Medellín to negotiate a six-year agreement to traffic cocaine and weapons through 2026, allegedly offering weapons in exchange for narcotics.

According to prosecutors, drug proceeds were also used to finance political objectives. Relatives of the Maduro family allegedly sought to raise $20 million from narcotics trafficking to fund Cilia Flores’s 2015 campaign for Venezuela’s National Assembly.

Charges and forfeiture

The grand jury has brought four principal counts:

• Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy against Maduro, Cabello and Ramón Rodríguez Chacín for allegedly providing material support to terrorist organisations through drug trafficking.
• Cocaine Importation Conspiracy, charging all defendants with conspiring to import five kilograms or more of cocaine into the United States.
• Possession of Machineguns and Destructive Devices in furtherance of drug crimes.
• Conspiracy to Possess Machineguns and Destructive Devices.

US prosecutors are also seeking forfeiture of all property and proceeds derived from the alleged crimes.