BREAKING: Maduro, wife face US narco-terrorism indictment as Washington signals major escalation

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have been indicted in the United States on sweeping criminal charges, including narco-terrorism, the US Attorney General, Pam Bondi, said on Saturday.

Bondi disclosed that the indictments were filed at the US District Court for the Southern District of New York and include charges of narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the United States.

In a statement posted on the social media platform X, the attorney general said: “Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have been indicted in the Southern District of New York. Maduro has been charged with narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the United States.”

The announcement came hours after US President Donald Trump claimed that American forces had carried out a “large-scale strike” in Venezuela and that Maduro and his wife had been “captured and flown out of the country”.

Bondi said the Venezuelan leader and his wife would be prosecuted in US courts, adding that they would “soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil”.

The twin developments represent a dramatic escalation in the long-running standoff between Washington and Caracas, raising fresh questions about Venezuela’s political future and the potential regional fallout of the US actions.