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CHICAGO (WLS) — The I-Team has delved into the recent drug trafficking charges against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, examining the potential impact on drug operations from Venezuela following his detainment.
A federal indictment alleges that for the past 25 years, Venezuelan officials have misused their authority to transform a once-legitimate government into a conduit for cocaine smuggling to the United States, with Chicago possibly being one of the destinations for the illicit drugs.
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Nicolas Maduro, who has led Venezuela, has been a wanted figure in the U.S. for drug trafficking since 2020, with authorities placing a $15 million reward for information leading to his arrest.
In a dramatic operation over the weekend, Maduro and his wife were apprehended at their residence in Caracas and are currently facing drug trafficking charges in New York. U.S. officials accuse him of using his corrupt power and the country’s compromised institutions to transport massive amounts of cocaine to the U.S.
The 25-page indictment details Maduro’s alleged collaboration with drug cartels to facilitate the movement of vast quantities of cocaine into the United States.
Further accusations in the indictment claim Maduro and his wife ordered kidnappings, assaults, and murders of those indebted to them or who threatened their drug trafficking network. This reportedly included the assassination of a local drug lord in Caracas.
He could face life in prison if convicted.
In federal court Monday, Maduro and his wife pleaded not guilty to the charges.
“It’s about holding these people accountable. And if, if you’re a drug trafficker kingpin, especially, you have to be really concerned that your days are numbered,” said former Chicago-area DEA agent Michael Gannon.
He says this sends a chilling message and could be a major blow to the drug trade from the South American country.
“We’re going to come get you, even if it’s on your own turf, if you don’t want to do the right thing, turn yourself in and you want to send these drugs to our country. When you have that designee as terrorist organizations, you’re able to utilize your assets from the most powerful military on planet Earth, and that’s a good thing,” Gannon said.
For years, Maduro is accused of facilitating drug trafficking by providing Venezuelan diplomatic passports to traffickers and diplomatic cover for planes used by money launderers to bring drug proceeds from Mexico back to Venezuela, allowing “cocaine-fueled corruption to flourish for his own benefit.”
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But Northwestern University’s Lina Britto, an expert in Latin American history and the history of the drug wars, says she expects Maduro’s removal to usher in an era of massive destabilization.
“This really is a very new and unprecedented situation. What it’s going to create is a tremendous instability in the border region between Colombia and Venezuela, which is one of the main and largest producers of coca and cocaine for the illegal markets,” Britto said.
She says operators of illegal drug businesses the administration has labeled “narco-terrorists” will be forced to improvise, and that likely means violence saying U.S. intervention in the region is haphazard.
“That tradition of, you know, Republicanism of sovereignty. It’s something that is embedded in in our political identity and who we are. So, they’re really, they have, they have no idea what they’re doing, because they don’t know us. They don’t know Latin America, and they don’t care,” she said.
Vice President JD Vance posted on X that even though there is not much deadly fentanyl coming to the U.S. from Venezuela, any reduction in cocaine profits helps curtail cartel power and aids in overall drug reduction.
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