US President Donald Trump said today (Jan. 3) that the US had carried out a successful strike on Venezuela and captured the country’s president, Nicolas Maduro.
“The United States has successfully carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicoas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the country. This operation was done in conjunction with the U.S. Law Enforcement,” Trump said on Truth Social.
Following the attack, Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on X, “Maduro is NOT the President of Venezuela and his regime is NOT the legitimate government. Maduro is the head of the Cartel de Los Soles, a narco-terror organization which has taken possession of a country. And he is under indictment for pushing drugs into the United States.”
US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau says on X, “A new dawn for Venezuela! The tyrant is gone. He will now—finally—face justice for his crimes.”
Since September, US forces have carried out at least 35 strikes on drug-smuggling boats from Venezuela, killing more than 115 individuals.
Officials said these strikes were confirmed to be narco-terrorists.
On Aug 7, the state department has increased the reward offer up to US$50 million for information leading to the arrest of Maduro.
According to the US State Department release, Maduro helped manage and ultimately lead the Cartel of the Suns, a Venezuelan drug-trafficking organization, comprised of high-ranking Venezuelan officials, and coordinated with narcotics traffickers in Honduras and other countries, to facilitate large-scale drug trafficking.
It also said that in March 2020, the Southern District of New York had charged Maduro for narco-terrorism, and conspiracy to import cocaine into the US.
The US doubled down on Maduro on Dec. 11.
“Nicolas Maduro and his criminal associates in Venezuela are flooding the United States with drugs that are poisoning the American people,” said US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent.
“These sanctions undo the Biden Administration’s failed attempt to make a deal with Maduro, enabling his dictatorial and brutal control at the expense of the Venezuelan and American people. Under President Trump’s leadership, Treasury is holding the regime and its circle of cronies and companies accountable for its continued crimes,” Bessent added.
