Ousted Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro faces sweeping charges of drug trafficking, but analysts say US prosecutors will need to focus tightly on proving he moved weapons, drugs and laundered money in order to convict him.
US President Donald Trump has painted Maduro, who was snatched by US forces in a pre-dawn raid on his compound at a military base in Caracas on Saturday, as head of the so-called “Cartel of the Suns”. In court in New York on Monday, he pleaded not guilty to four charges of narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine and possession of weapons.
The indictment contains allegations that Maduro doled out diplomatic passports to drug traffickers, met guerrillas at the Miraflores presidential palace and discussed drug trafficking routes with top officials after a big bust in Paris of cocaine sent on a commercial plane from Venezuela.