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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Alanna Durkin Richer and Larry Neumeister

How cocaine and corruption led to the indictment of Maduro

US Venezuela - (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

A newly unsealed U.S. Justice Department indictment accuses captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro of running a “corrupt, illegitimate government” fueled by an extensive drug-trafficking operation that flooded the U.S. with thousands of tons of cocaine.

The arrest of Maduro and his wife in a stunning military operation early Saturday in Venezuela sets the stage for a major test for U.S. prosecutors as they seek to secure a conviction in a Manhattan courtroom against the longtime leader of the oil-rich South American nation.

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