US Indicts Venezuelan President Maduro On Drug Trafficking Charges

The United States has charged Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro and a number of other senior officials with drug trafficking crimes, offering a $15 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Maduro. The decision was announced by U.S. Attorney General William Barr.

“The Venezuelan regime, once led by Nicolás Maduro Moros, remains plagued by criminality and corruption,” Barr said in a statement.

“For more than 20 years, Maduro and a number of high-ranking colleagues allegedly conspired with the FARC, causing tons of cocaine to enter and devastate American communities. Today’s announcement is focused on rooting out the extensive corruption within the Venezuelan government – a system constructed and controlled to enrich those at the highest levels of the government. The United States will not allow these corrupt Venezuelan officials to use the U.S. banking system to move their illicit proceeds from South America nor further their criminal schemes."

In 2019, Maduro’s government had attempted to repatriate an estimated 31 tons of gold from the Bank of England’s vaults on fears it could be caught up in international sanctions on the country, Reuters reported.

“As you would expect, the bank does not comment on individual customer relationships,” the Bank of England said at the time. “In all its operations, the Bank observes the highest standards of risk management and abides by all relevant legislation.”

During a United Nations meeting in Geneva, Venezuelan foreign minister Jorge Arreaza had said the Bank of England had blocked the government’s assets.

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