The DOJ has added his wife in this new indictment which states
The indictment accuses Maduro of leading a “a corrupt, illegitimate government that, for decades, has leveraged government power to protect and promote illegal activity, including drug trafficking.” It alleges that the drug trafficking efforts “enriched and entrenched Venezuela’s political and military elite.”
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.
Authorities estimate that as much as 250 tons of cocaine were trafficked through Venezuela by 2020, according to the indictment. The drugs were moved on go-fast vessels, fishing boats and container ships or via planes from clandestine airstrips, authorities allege.
Maduro will face his charges in civil court, Southern Court of New York, which is a huge deal. This is the court that ran the trail for El Chapo and countless others. It is important to note that Maduro's former Military Intelligence Chief Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios, AKA “El Pollo” pleaded guilty in a Manhattan federal court to narco-terrorism conspiracy, drug-trafficking and weapons charges.
AKA this means that this guy who had turned against Maduro HIGHLY likely provided damming additional information against Maduro and his cronies.
I'm really curious how all the jurisdictional stuff works here.
I get that he's being charged for breaking US laws in the US, but how do they evaluate the legality of how he was apprehended? My understanding is that domestic criminals often get off because protocols were violated during their arrest. There must be similar considerations for arresting people abroad.
@siggy47, do you know anything about how this works?
Well, I am skeptical of this whole thing, but, it's not the typical analysis of probable cause, reasonable suspicion, etc, because there was already an indictment, and the arrest was pursuant to a warrant. The bigger question: Would the US be cool with a Palestinian Authority Court arresting, say, Bibi, for genocide, by crossing into Jerusalem and bringing him to Gaza for trial? Of course not. What about China arresting and extraditing the Taiwanese Prime Minister?
Of course there's a major double standard at play, but I am curious what due process looks like in an international case like this.
I never saw how they really could justify Noriega either. Might makes right. No point trying to pretend it's legal.
I did just check with Noriega and he was also someone that could be classified as an illegitimate leader. Noriega annulled the 1989 Panamanian general election after he lost.
Not sure if it was a factor but it was something that happened.
Under that argument, would it have been justifiable for Russia to forcibly pull Biden out of the White House in 2021?
I mean I wont lie I do think Biden won to be frank.... that being said I dont have a great answer beyond what the internal community thinks and how they feel.
Venezuelans did not like him and voted against him. When they had tried to protest they were shot and arrested.
Though as someone who isnt a fan of us playing world police I feel like this was a unique circumstance. Not saying its right but the specific things lined up like this being in Americas back yard.
Look, are Venezuelans better off today than yesterday? Almost certainly. But for us in the US, do we really believe that we live under some semblance of a constitutional government? Congressional War Powers is now a complete farce.
I guess you can look at it as much more legitimate than the usual CIA regime changes we usually engage in. It was more transparent with a whole elaborate legal pretense.
The point isn't whether or not he won, because no one can know for sure. The point is that allowing uncertainty in whether it was legitimate to serve as a justification for removing a leader is a dangerous position (if it were to be applied generally, which obviously it won't be).
However there is a stark difference in one being a legitimate leader and one who isnt. That kinda the line I point at. If Maduro was a legitimate leader than this is an entirely different thing.
That raises another question though about how legitimacy is determined. I was convinced that he didn't win the election too, but he did secure power and claimed to have done so legitimately.
It seems like, if that's what makes this valid, then they'd have to demonstrate first that he did not actually win the election. Otherwise, why not just make that claim about anyone?
So my understanding is that part of this is also based on the former Military Intelligence Leader that the US arrested and was sent to jail a few years ago. My understanding is he provided a heck of a lot of data and info so there could be something there.
Interesting, I missed that story.
Here ya go! Whatever we learned it makes you wonder
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/27/hugo-carvajal-venezuela-pleads-guilty-drug-charges
So my one comment about comparing the arrest of Maduro to Bibi breaks boils down to the legitimacy of the person in power. Right now Bibi is legally in power but Maduro was internationally recognized as being illegitimate. If Maduro was a legitimate leader than I think that changes things but he wasnt
That's a fair distinction, but does it justify one country simply deciding to take the law into its own hands? The US would never stand by and let another nation forcibly remove one of its citizens from its own soil, regardless of any indictment or legal procedure.
Something that got a lot of attention and then it went away was the illegal Chinese "police stations" that were in a ton of U.S. cities. It was discovered and a huge deal was made by politicians about what those people were doing but then it disappeared.... I have no clue what ended up happening but you are right the U.S. wouldnt stand for it normally but it seems like from what I remember it did happen....
Could be wrong though.
Yes, I always wondered what the hell that was about too.
I found what imma be looking into lol!
I know Houston was a huge place that this occurred.
What did happen with that? I forgot all about it.
Yeah imma look into it and see what I can find!
There were lots of doubts about both the 2016 and 2020 US presidential elections. I doubt it would be considered a legitimate justification for a foreign power to raid the White House and abduct Trump or Biden for crimes committed abroad.
According to CNN the basis was based off of the 1989 Panama operation that grabbed Noriega. From what CNN said the FBI under the opinion of the DOJ can go arrest someone on international territory if the President orders them to.
If we go back to El Chapo there were claims that he was kidnapped (honestly kinda feel like he was) but his arrest was upheld by the same court that Maduro is headed towards.