'Biggest drug-trafficker': US offers whopping $50 million for Nicolas Maduro's arrest, Venezuela hits back with 'Epstein Files' jibe

United States Attorney General Pam Bondi has announced a reward of $50 million for any information on the whereabouts of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Bondi said that under the leadership of US President Donald Trump, Maduro will not be able to escape justice. The Venezuelan President was indicted in Manhattan federal court in 2020 on federal charges of narco-terrorism and conspiracy to import cocaine. The US had already announced $25 million reward for his arrest. Now the State Department and Justice Department have raised it to $50 million.

In a video posted to X, Bondi claimed that Maduro uses foreign terrorist organisations such as Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel, to bring deadly drugs and violence into the US. She further said that the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seized 30 tons of cocaine linked to Maduro in the US and added that he is the largest narco trafficker in the world. "Maduro's reign of terror continues, and he is a threat to our national security," Bondi said. Maduro, who returned to office in Venezuela in January this year, has previously rejected US claims that he has direct involvement in drug trafficking. He faces sanctions from the EU and UK as well.

How did Venezuela react to the US announcement?

Reacting to the announcement, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil said on Telegram that the announcement was "the most ridiculous smokescreen ever seen." Gil said that while Venezuela was working to uncover terrorist plots originating from her country, however, the US Attorney General was engaging in a media spectacle aimed at appeasing the defeated far-right in Venezuela. He added that the dignity of their homeland was not for sale and condemned what he described as a crude political propaganda operation. He called the reward as “pathetic” and accused Bondi of orchestrating a “crude political propaganda operation.” Gil also taunted Bondi for her flip-flop over the controversial Epstein Files. “We’re not surprised, coming from who it comes from. The same one who promised a nonexistent ‘secret list’ of Epstein and who wallows in scandals for political favours,” Gil said.