After being captured by the United States government and taken to a Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, dictator Nicolás Maduro will undergo a hearing. The session is expected to take place at the Southern District of New York court on Monday (5).
A “substitute accusation”, in judicial jargon, was presented to the case docket. The new complaint expands the scope of the accusation made four years ago, which already included crimes of narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine and possession of weapons of war.
Now, the document reinforces Maduro’s link with the so-called “Cartel de los Soles”, an alleged network of Venezuelan military personnel linked to international drug trafficking that was considered a terrorist group by the American government. The document also mentions new defendants, including his wife, Cilia Flores, and one of Maduro’s children.
The original indictment was built on investigations conducted by the United States Drug Enforcement Agency, the DEA. The inclusion of new names and facts in the original complaint indicates an attempt by the Prosecutor’s Office to strengthen the case and expand the requested sentences.
