Donald Trump has doubled the reward for the capture of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, accusing him of fuelling drug trafficking and terrorism that brings “deadly violence” to the US.
On Thursday (7 August), Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the Trump administration is now offering a $50 million bounty for information leading to Maduro’s arrest, the largest ever offered by the US for a foreign leader, CBS News reports.
Bondi claimed Maduro, who has ruled Venezuela since 2013, is at the centre of an international cocaine operation linked to violent cartels, including Tren de Aragua, Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, and Venezuela’s own Cartel of the Suns.
“Maduro uses foreign terrorist organisations to bring deadly drugs and violence into our country,” Bondi said in a video statement. “Today, the DEA has seized 30 tons of cocaine tied to Maduro and his associates, nearly seven tons connected to Maduro personally.”
She added that cocaine from Maduro’s network is “often laced with fentanyl,” a synthetic opioid blamed for tens of thousands of deaths in the US.
