Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro set for court docket arraignment in New York Monday

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Nicolas Maduro, the dethroned Venezuelan dictator indicted on main drug trafficking and weapons costs in america, is predicted in a federal court docket in New York Monday for his arraignment, days after American forces captured him in his personal presidential palace.

The listening to, through which Maduro might be formally advised the costs towards him, is about for midday. His spouse, Cilia Flores, was arrested within the raid and can be due in court docket. Like her husband, she was a high-level official in Venezuela's socialist regime.

Maduro faces 4 costs: narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine weapons and damaging gadgets and conspiracy to own machine weapons and damaging gadgets.

"For over 25 years, leaders of Venezuela have abused their positions of public belief and corrupted once-legitimate establishments to import tons of cocaine into america," federal prosecutors wrote in a superseding indictment unveiled over the weekend.

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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro gestures subsequent to his spouse Cilia Flores as they go away the Capitolio, residence of the Nationwide Meeting, after taking the oath throughout the presidential inauguration in Caracas on Jan. 10, 2025. (Juan Barreto/AFP by way of Getty Photographs)

Flores faces three: cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine weapons and damaging gadgets, and conspiracy to own machine weapons and damaging gadgets.

Comparable proceedings are normally quick. There gained’t be any witness testimony, the defendants may have an opportunity to enter their pleas, and the choose will set the subsequent court docket date and deal with the topic of pretrial launch.

Bail is very unlikely, in line with authorized specialists.

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President Donald Trump shared a photograph of captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro aboard USS Iwo Jima after strikes on Venezuela, on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (Donald Trump by way of Fact Social)

"I believe I've a greater likelihood of successful the subsequent Energy Ball," David Gelman, a Philadelphia-area protection lawyer, advised Fox Information Digital. "When [former Panama dictator Manuel] Noriega was arraigned, he didn’t get bail."

Noriega was equally deposed by U.S. forces in 1989 on racketeering and drug trafficking costs.

Maduro is being held in the identical federal jail in Brooklyn as accused murderer Luigi Mangione.

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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro holds a ceremonial sword mentioned to have belonged to independence hero Simon Bolivar throughout a government-organized civic-military march in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. (Ariana Cubillos/AP Picture)

"Years in the past, he was indicted in U.S. federal court docket for narco-terrorism," mentioned Royal Oakes, a Los Angeles-based lawyer and authorized analyst.

Federal prosecutors secured a grand jury indictment in 2020. Extra not too long ago, the federal government positioned a $50 million bounty on his head as President Donald Trump urged him to step down.

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The choice of New York’s Southern District Court docket to deal with the case may have a major influence on the way it performs out, Oakes mentioned.

New Yorkers simply elected an brazenly socialist mayor, however he mentioned the success of Maduro's seize with none American casualties may additionally play a task.