Maduro was initially transported aboard the USS Iwo Jima before presumably being handed off at a U.S. airfield, at which point the couple was transported to New York. Aerial footage showed an aircraft carrying deposed dictator taxiing on the runway at Stewart International shortly after 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have been indicted in the Southern District of New York following their capture during a U.S. military operation in Venezuela. Both face charges including conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.
These charges stem from allegations that they participated in a corrupt government regime involved in drug trafficking operations that flooded the United States with cocaine, coordinating with armed groups designated as terrorists. The indictment, a superseding version of one originally filed in 2020, adds Flores as a defendant and describes the Venezuelan leadership as leveraging power to protect illegal activities.
he narco-terrorism conspiracy and cocaine importation conspiracy counts each have a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, with mandatory minimums of 20 years for narco-terrorism (doubling the standard drug trafficking minimum due to the terrorism link) and 10 years for cocaine importation. For possession of machine guns and destructive devices, the penalty includes a mandatory minimum of 30 years imprisonment.
The conspiracy to possess such weapons allows for up to life imprisonment. These sentences could run consecutively, potentially resulting in effective life terms without parole, in addition to fines up to $10 million per count.
Given the charges are filed in the Southern District of New York, they are likely to be held in pretrial detention at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, a federal facility commonly used for high-profile detainees. They are expected to be arraigned in federal court in the district next week.