The US has accused the Venezuelan leader<\/a> of being one of the world\u2019s leading narco-traffickers and working with cartels to flood the US with fentanyl-laced cocaine.<\/p>\n In a video posted to social media on Thursday announcing the \u201chistoric\u201d increase in reward money, US Attorney General Pam Bondi accused Maduro of collaborating with Venezuelan crime syndicates Tren de Aragua, Cartel of the Suns and the notorious Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico.<\/p>\n \u201cHe is one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world and a threat to our national security. Therefore, we doubled his reward to $50 million,\u201d Bondi said.<\/p>\n \u201cUnder President Trump\u2019s leadership, Maduro will not escape justice, and he will be held accountable for his despicable crimes,\u201d she said, before giving the public a hotline phone number where they can report tips.<\/p>\n Bondi also said that the US Department of Justice had so far seized more than $700m in assets linked to Maduro, including two private jets, nine vehicles, and claimed that tonnes of seized cocaine had been traced directly to the president.<\/p>\n Today, @TheJusticeDept<\/a> and @StateDept<\/a> are announcing a $50 MILLION REWARD for information leading to the arrest of Nicol\u00e1s Maduro. pic.twitter.com\/D8LNqjS9yk<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) August 7, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil responded on the Telegram platform to Bondi\u2019s announcement, saying it was \u201cthe most ridiculous smokescreen ever seen\u201d and designed to distract attention from the Jeffrey Epstein controversy in the US.<\/p>\n \u201cIt does not surprise us, coming from who it comes from. The same one who promised a non-existent \u2018secret list\u2019 of Epstein and who wallows in scandals of political favours,\u201d the minister said.<\/p>\n \u201cHer show is a joke, a desperate distraction from her own miseries. The dignity of our homeland is not for sale. We reject this crude political propaganda operation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Maduro was indicted in a US federal court in 2020, during the first Trump presidency, along with several close allies, on federal drug charges.<\/p>\n At the time, the US offered a $15m reward for his arrest. That was later raised by the Biden administration to $25m \u2013 the same amount the US offered for the capture of Osama bin Laden following the September 11, 2001, attacks.<\/p>\n In June, a former director of the Venezuelan military intelligence pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and narco-terrorism charges in the US, a week before his trial was set to begin.<\/p>\n Hugo Carvajal, who served in the government of the late President Hugo Chavez from 2004 to 2011, admitted guilt in four criminal counts, including narco-terrorism conspiracy, conspiracy to import cocaine and weapons charges.<\/p>\n US federal prosecutors had alleged the former major-general, along with other high-ranking Venezuelan government and military officials, led a drug cartel that attempted to \u201cflood\u201d the US with cocaine.<\/p>\n Carvajal had served as a diplomat representing Maduro\u2019s government before breaking with him to support the country\u2019s US-backed political opposition. He was extradited from Spain<\/a> to the US in July 2023 following more than a decade-long campaign by the Justice Department.<\/p>\n Despite the US rewards, Maduro remains in power<\/a> after his re-election as president in 2024 in a vote that was condemned as a sham by Washington, the European Union and several Latin American governments.<\/p>\n Last month, the Trump administration struck a deal to secure the release of 10 Americans jailed<\/a> in Caracas in exchange for Venezuela seeing the return home of dozens of people deported by the US to El Salvador under the Trump administration\u2019s new immigration crackdown.<\/p>\n Shortly after, the White House also reversed course and allowed US oil giant Chevron to resume drilling in Venezuela after it was previously blocked by US sanctions.<\/p>\n\n
![\"Hugo](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP426332347562-1689872816.jpg\")
Then-Venezuelan lawmaker Hugo Carvajal attends a meeting at the National Assembly administrative offices, in Caracas, Venezuela, in 2016. Carvajal, a former head of military intelligence, has pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges by the US [File: Fernando Llano]<\/p>\n