In a bold escalation, the Trump administration announced Thursday a $50 million reward for information leading to the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, doubling the previous bounty and signaling a renewed crackdown on his alleged narco-terror network.
“Maduro uses foreign terrorist organizations like Tren de Aragua, the Sinaloa cartel, and the Cartel of the Suns to flood our country with deadly drugs and violence,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a video statement on X. She revealed that the DEA has seized 30 tons of cocaine linked to Maduro and his associates — nearly seven tons tied directly to the embattled leader — serving as a major funding stream for Venezuelan and Mexican cartels.
The indictment against Maduro, issued in March 2020 in the Southern District of New York, charges him with narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns, and related weapons offenses. At the time, the Trump administration offered $15 million for his arrest. The State Department later increased it to $25 million under President Biden — and now Trump has doubled it again.
Bondi said the DOJ has already seized over $700 million in Maduro-linked assets, including private jets, luxury vehicles, and other holdings, yet “his reign of terror continues.”
Calling him “one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world” and “a threat to our national security,” Bondi vowed that under Trump’s leadership, Maduro will not escape justice.
With U.S. authorities raising the stakes, the $50 million bounty ranks among the largest rewards ever offered for a foreign leader, underscoring Washington’s determination to dismantle Maduro’s alleged criminal empire and bring him before American courts.