August 8, 2025 | 07:38 pm
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has doubled the reward for the arrest of Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro to US$50 million or over Rp813 billion. The Trump administration has accused Maduro of being one of the world’s largest drug dealers and of collaborating with cartels to flood the U.S. with cocaine laced with fentanyl.
"Under President Trump’s leadership, Maduro will not escape justice and he will be held accountable for his despicable crimes," said U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi in a video announcing the reward on Thursday, as reported by Arab News.
Bondi claimed the Justice Department had seized more than US$700 million in assets related to Maduro, including two private jets, and stated that 7 million tons of confiscated cocaine had been traced directly to the leftist leader.
Maduro’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Maduro was indicted in federal court in Manhattan in 2020 during Trump’s first presidency, along with some of his close allies, on federal charges of drug terrorism and conspiracy to import cocaine.
At that time, the U.S. offered a US$15 million reward for his capture. The amount was later increased by the Biden administration to US$25 million, the same amount offered for the capture of Osama bin Laden after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Despite the hefty reward, Maduro remains firm in his position, opposing the U.S., the European Union, and several Latin American governments that condemned his 2024 re-election as fraudulent and recognized his opponent as the legitimate president of Venezuela.
Last month, the Trump administration reached a deal to free 10 American citizens imprisoned in Caracas in exchange for Venezuela repatriating a number of migrants deported by the U.S. to El Salvador under Trump's tough immigration policy.
Shortly after, the White House reversed its policy and allowed U.S. oil producer Chevron to resume drilling in Venezuela, a move that had been previously blocked by U.S. sanctions.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil released a statement, as reported by ABC News, calling the reward "pathetic" and accusing Bondi of orchestrating a "crude political propaganda operation."
"We’re not surprised, coming from whom it comes from. The same one who promised a nonexistent ‘secret list’ of Epstein and who wallows in scandals for political favors," said Gil.
This refers to the backlash faced by Bondi after the US Department of Justice announced last month that the long-rumored "client list" of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein did not exist. "Her show is a joke, a desperate distraction from her own misery," Gil added.
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