In an extraordinary development in international relations, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores are scheduled to appear before Federal Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein in Manhattan on Monday at 12:00 p.m. local time (17:00 GMT). This follows their dramatic capture by American military forces during an unprecedented operation in Caracas on January 3rd, 2026.
The high-profile defendants currently remain detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, a high-security federal facility, while facing serious allegations from U.S. prosecutors. Maduro confronts four federal charges including criminal conspiracy, narcoterrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, and weapons violations involving automatic firearms and explosive devices.
According to court documents referenced by American media outlets, Flores faces accusations of providing both logistical and financial support to criminal organizations designated as terrorist entities by Washington.
The recently unsealed indictment presents a comprehensive case alleging that Maduro personally led the ‘Cartel of the Suns’—a drug trafficking network whose name reportedly references Venezuela’s military leadership. Prosecutors assert this organization pursued dual objectives of personal enrichment and political consolidation while deliberately flooding American territories with cocaine, effectively weaponizing narcotics against the United States.
Evidence detailed in the indictment outlines sophisticated alliances with multiple transnational criminal organizations including the FARC, ELN, Sinaloa Cartel, Los Zetas, and the Tren de Aragua Cartel. The documentation further describes exploitation of diplomatic privileges, government-controlled airports, and state-protected maritime routes for narcotics transportation.
Official estimates from the State Department, cited within the legal filing, indicate that approximately 200-250 tons of cocaine transited through Venezuelan territory annually en route to the United States around 2020.
This current indictment expands upon previous charges filed against Maduro in Manhattan during March 2020, which emerged from an extensive Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) investigation encompassing similar allegations of narcoterrorism and cocaine importation conspiracies.