Donald Trump offers $50m bounty for capture of world leader
Donald Trump has significantly increased the bounty for the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, claiming he is responsible for drug trafficking and terrorism that contribute to “deadly violence” in the United States.
On August 7, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that the Trump administration has raised the reward to $50 million for information that leads to Maduro’s arrest, marking it as the largest reward ever offered by the U.S. for a foreign leader, according to CBS News.
Bondi accused Maduro, who has been in power since 2013, of being at the center of an international cocaine trafficking operation involving dangerous cartels, including Tren de Aragua, Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, and Venezuela’s own Cartel of the Suns. “Maduro employs foreign terrorist groups to inject deadly drugs and violence into our country,” Bondi stated in a video message. She highlighted that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has recently confiscated 30 tons of cocaine linked to Maduro and his associates, with nearly seven tons tied directly to Maduro himself.
She also noted that cocaine produced by Maduro’s network is often mixed with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid associated with many overdose deaths in the U.S. So far, U.S. authorities have seized more than $700 million in assets connected to Maduro, including two private jets and nine vehicles. “Yet Maduro’s reign of terror continues,” Bondi said, calling him one of the largest drug traffickers in the world and a threat to national security.
Maduro was first indicted in March 2020 on multiple federal charges in New York, including narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, and possession of machine guns and other destructive devices. Initially, the Trump administration offered a $15 million reward for his capture, a figure that increased to $25 million under President Joe Biden, and now has jumped to $50 million under Trump, as reported by Al Jazeera.
This move comes amidst ongoing political chaos in Venezuela. Maduro’s presidency has been mired in allegations of electoral fraud, human rights abuses, and corruption. His re-election in 2018 was rejected by the opposition, which claimed that Juan Guaidó was the rightful president. Trump had recognized Guaidó in 2020 and welcomed him to the White House.
In the 2024 election, Maduro was again declared the winner, although opposition groups alleged that former diplomat Edmundo González had won with twice the votes. Both González and Guaidó have since fled the country following Maduro’s orders for their arrests.
“Maduro is not the President of Venezuela,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated last month. “His regime is not the legitimate government.”
Those with information about Maduro’s whereabouts are encouraged to contact 1-202-307-4228 or submit tips online.
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