News
Drug Trafficking · Geopolitics · Sanctions · Venezuela
US prosecutors charged Cilia Flores, wife of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, along with Maduro and his son, with accepting bribes to facilitate drug trafficking and manipulating the anti-drug office, involving hundreds of thousands of dollars and multi-hundred-kilogram cocaine shipments.
Flores, a prominent lawmaker, and Maduro played a central role in strengthening Maduro’s power. The charges stem from 2007, when Flores allegedly accepted bribes to arrange a meeting between a major drug trafficker and Nestor Reverol Torres, then director of Venezuela's National Anti-Drug Office.
The trafficker subsequently paid monthly bribes to Torres and $100,000 per cocaine flight, with a portion channeled to Flores. Torres was charged with narcotics offenses in New York in 2015 and remains at large.
The case also highlights alleged drug links involving Flores’s family, specifically her nephews, who were recorded in 2015 discussing plans to move "multi-hundred-kilogram" cocaine shipments from Maduro’s presidential hangar. These nephews were convicted in 2017 and sentenced to 18 years but were freed in 2022 as part of a prisoner exchange involving seven Americans.
The indictment against Maduro, Flores, his son, and three others includes charges of narco-terrorism conspiracy, conspiracy to import cocaine, and possession of machine guns.
US Indicts Venezuela's Flores, Maduro for Drug Crimes(current)
