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

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

The listening to, during which Maduro will probably be formally knowledgeable of the fees in opposition to him, is scheduled for midday. His spouse, Cilia Flores, was arrested through the raid and can be because of seem in court docket. Like her husband, she was a high-ranking official in Venezuela’s socialist regime.

Maduro faces 4 prices: a conspiracy of narco-terrorism, a conspiracy of importing cocaine, possession of machine weapons and harmful gadgets and a conspiracy to own machine weapons and harmful gadgets.

“For greater than 25 years, Venezuela’s leaders abused their positions of public belief and corrupted as soon as respectable establishments to import tons of cocaine into america,” federal prosecutors wrote in a superseding indictment unsealed this weekend.

IRAN AND MADURO TIES SUFFER MAJOR COMPLAINT AFTER US OPERATION AND REPLACEMENT OF VENEZELAN DICTATOR

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro gestures subsequent to his spouse Cilia Flores as they go away the Capitolio, dwelling of the Nationwide Meeting, after taking the oath of workplace through the presidential inauguration in Caracas on January 10, 2025. (Juan Barreto/AFP through Getty Photos)

Flores faces three counts: conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine weapons and harmful gadgets, and conspiracy to own machine weapons and harmful gadgets.

Comparable procedures are normally short-lived. There will probably be no witness statements, the defendants will probably be given the chance to enter their pleas, and the decide will set the subsequent listening to date and focus on the subject of pretrial launch.

Authorized specialists say bail is very unlikely.

VENEZELAN LEADER Maduro lands in New York after being captured by US forces on drug conspiracy prices

President Donald Trump shared a photograph of captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro aboard the USS Iwo Jima following assaults on Venezuela, on Saturday, January 3, 2026. (Donald Trump through Reality Social)

“I believe I’ve a greater likelihood of profitable the subsequent Energy Ball,” David Gelman, a Philadelphia-area legal professional, informed Fox Information Digital. “When [former Panama dictator Manuel] Noriega was charged, he was denied bail.”

Noriega was equally deposed by US forces in 1989 on prices of racketeering and drug trafficking.

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

JONATHAN TURLEY: WHY MADURO’S CAPTURE DOES NOT REQUIRE CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro holds a ceremonial sword reportedly belonging to independence hero Simon Bolivar throughout a government-organized civil-military march in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, November 25, 2025. (Ariana Cubillos/AP Photograph)

“Years in the past, he was indicted in U.S. federal court docket for narcoterrorism,” stated Royal Oakes, a Los Angeles-based legal professional and authorized analyst.

Federal prosecutors secured a grand jury indictment in 2020. Extra lately, the federal government positioned a $50 million bounty on his head when President Donald Trump urged him to resign.

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The number of the Southern District Courtroom in New York to listen to the case may have a major impression on its final result, Oakes stated.

New Yorkers simply elected an overtly socialist mayor, however he stated the success of Maduro’s arrest with out American casualties may additionally play a job.

“The end result of the mission may additionally decide public opinion and due to this fact the jury’s verdict,” Oakes stated.

Fox Information’ Maria Paronich contributed to this report.