Jan. 3 (UPI) -- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are indicted on federal charges accusing them of narco-terrorism conspiracy and three related charges.
They also are accused of cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices in a federal grand jury indictment in the U.S. District Court for Southern New York.
"For over 25 years, leaders of Venezuela have abused their positions of public trust and corrupted once-legitimate institutions to import tons of cocaine into the United States," said Jay Clayton, U.S. Attorney for Southern New York, in the federal indictment.
Maduro "is at the forefront of that corruption and has partnered with his co-conspirators to use his illegally obtained authority and the institutions he corroded to transport thousands of tons of cocaine into the United States," Clayton said.
He said Maduro has "tarnished every public office he has held" by engaging in narco-trafficking while protected by Venezuelan law enforcement since at least 1999.
