MIAMI The Trump administration has increased the reward for the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to $50 million, accusing him of being one of the world’s largest drug traffickers and collaborating with criminal cartels to flood the United States with fentanyl-laced cocaine.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, Maduro will not evade justice and will be held accountable for his despicable crimes,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said Thursday in a video announcing the reward.
Maduro was indicted in Manhattan federal court in 2020, during Trump’s first presidency, along with several close allies on charges of narco-terrorism and conspiracy to import cocaine. At the time, the U.S. offered a $15 million reward for his capture, which was later raised to $25 million by the Biden administration — matching the amount previously offered for the capture of Osama bin Laden following the September 11 attacks.
Despite the substantial bounty, Maduro remains firmly in power, defying the United States, the European Union, and multiple Latin American governments that condemned his 2024 reelection as fraudulent and recognized his opponent as Venezuela’s legitimate president.
Last month, the Trump administration negotiated the release of 10 Americans jailed in Caracas in exchange for the return of dozens of migrants deported by the United States to El Salvador under Trump-era immigration policies. Shortly after, the White House reversed its previous sanctions stance and allowed U.S. oil company Chevron to resume operations in Venezuela.
Bondi stated that the Justice Department has seized more than $700 million in assets linked to Maduro, including two private jets, and confirmed that nearly seven tons of confiscated cocaine were traced directly to the Venezuelan leader.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil condemned the reward as “pathetic” and accused Bondi of orchestrating a “crude political propaganda operation.” Gil added, “We are not surprised, coming from the same source who promised a non-existent ‘secret Epstein list’ and is mired in scandals over political favors. Her display is a joke, a desperate distraction from her own failures.”
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