The White House posted on social media of Maduro's walk into the DEA office in New York City, where Maduro arrived Saturday evening. The post captioned "perp walked" shows Maduro walking down the hallway of the DEA's New York Department with his hands cuffed in front of his body, escorted by officers.
Bondi said he is facing the following charges:
- Narco-terrorism conspiracy
- Cocaine importation conspiracy
- Possession of machine guns and destructive devices
- Conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the U.S.
Bondi added that Maduro's wife, Cilia Flores, was also indicted in the Southern District of New York.
Citing an unnamed source, The Associated Press reported that the plane carrying Maduro arrived in New York shortly after 5 p.m. EST.
According to the 25-page indictment, which Bondi shared on social media, Maduro and his wife, along with at least three other defendants, "partnered with narcotics traffickers and narco-terrorist groups, who dispatched processed cocaine from Venezuela to the United States via transshipment points in the Caribbean and Central America, such as Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico."
U.S. authorities allege that Maduro partnered with “some of the most violent and prolific drug traffickers and narco-terrorists in the world” to bring tons of cocaine into the U.S., according to the indictment.
Around 2020, the documents noted, the State Department estimated that between 200 and 250 tons of cocaine were trafficked through Venezuela annually.
"The maritime shipments were shipped north from Venezuela's coastline using go-fast vessels, fishing boats, and container ships," the documents noted. "Air shipments were often dispatched from clandestine airstrips, typically made of dirt or grass, and also from commercial airports under the control of corrupt government and military officials."
Maduro and other Venezuelan officials were indicted in 2020 on "narco-terrorism" conspiracy charges, but it was not previously known that his wife had been and it wasn’t clear if Bondi was referring to a new indictment. The details of the allegations against Flores were not immediately known.
At that time, Maduro was accused of the same charges he faces now, including participating in a narco-terrorism conspiracy, conspiring to import cocaine into the U.S.,using and carrying machine guns and destructive devices during, as well as possessing machine guns and destructive devices.
The news comes just a few hours after Trump confirmed that U.S. forces conducted what he called “a large-scale strike against Venezuela" early Saturday morning.
"The United States of America has successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country. This operation was done in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement. Details to follow," a post on Truth Social read just before 4:30 a.m. EST.
Trump later told Fox News U.S. forces found Maduro in "a house that was more like a fortress than a house. It had steel doors, it had what they call a safety space where it's solid steel ... He was trying to get into it, but he got bum rushed so fast that he didn't."
Venezuela's vice president appeared on state TV following the strikes and said the government doesn't know where Maduro and his wife are after U.S. forces captured them.
We do not know the whereabouts of President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores," Delcy Rodriguez said. "We demand proof of life."
In August, the U.S. Department of State announced increased a reward to $50 million for information that led to Maduro's arrest and conviction after the Department of Treasury sanctioned Cartel of the Suns as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
"Maduro helped manage and ultimately lead the Cartel of the Suns, a Venezuelan drug-trafficking organization comprised of high-ranking Venezuelan officials. As he gained power in Venezuela, Maduro participated in a corrupt and violent narco-terrorism conspiracy with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization," the Department of State previously said in a news release.
"Maduro negotiated multi-ton shipments of FARC-produced cocaine; directed the Cartel of the Suns to provide military-grade weapons to the FARC; coordinated with narcotics traffickers in Honduras and other countries to facilitate large-scale drug trafficking; and solicited assistance from FARC leadership in training an unsanctioned militia group that functioned, in essence, as an armed forces unit for the Cartel of the Suns," according to the Department of State.
Maduro's capture follows ongoing boat strikes on alleged narco-terrorists.
Amid the strikes, which started in September and have been carried out in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth has faced scrutiny from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
In December, Hegseth refused to show all members of Congress the full video of a deadly double strike that killed two survivors on an alleged drug boat on September 2.
Some Democratic lawmakers and legal experts said the military committed a crime, while the Trump administration and some Republican lawmakers say the follow-up strike was legal.
"Right now, the world is seeing the strength of American resolve and stemming the flow of lethal drugs to our country. Here again, we've been focused and here we've been clear: if you're working for a designated terrorist organization and you bring bring drugs to this country in a boat, we will find you and we will sink you -- make no doubt about it," he said.
As of Friday, the number of known boat strikes is 35 and the number of people killed is at least 115, according to numbers announced by the Trump administration.
The U.S. Coast Guard on Friday said it was still searching for alleged narco-terrorists who apparently jumped off boats when the U.S. military launched deadly attacks earlier this week.
The search started on Tuesday afternoon.
"On Dec. 30th, the @uscg was notified by the @DeptofWar of mariners in distress in the Pacific Ocean. The U.S. Coast Guard is conducting search and rescue operations," the Coast Guard wrote in an X post on Tuesday. "Updates will be provided when available."
Source: khqa.com, Staff, The Associated Press January 3, 2026
"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."
— Oscar Wilde
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