The United States has been after Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro for years.
He has been indicted by the courts, and the United States has a massive award posted for his arrest.
Now, however, the FBI appears to have struck a massive blow, busting an alleged money-laundering ring that is tied to Maduro’s children.
In August, the State Department released an update on its quest to bring Maduro to justice.
It posted, “After initially offering a reward offer of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Maduro in 2020, the Department of State on January 10, 2025, increased the reward offer to up to $25 million.
“On August 7, 2025, the Department announced the further increase in the reward offer to up to $50 million after the Department of Treasury sanctioned Cartel of the Suns as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist on July 25, 2025.
“As leader of Cartel of the Suns, Maduro is the first target in the history of the Narcotics Rewards Program with a reward offer exceeding $25 million.”
In past administrations, drug runners were intercepted, the drugs and boats were confiscated, and those apprehended would stand trial.
Trump changed the rules by designating these groups as terror groups, largely because he wanted to use the military to take them on (in my opinion).
Since that declaration, Trump has ordered strikes on four different occasions to take out drug boats, with the fourth happening this past week.
Trump announced, "A boat loaded with enough drugs to kill 25 TO 50 THOUSAND PEOPLE was stopped, early this morning off the Coast of Venezuela, from entering American Territory.”
On Saturday, it was reported that the FBI had indicted two individuals for their involvement in a money-laundering scheme that had been tied to Maduro’s children.
The investigation dated back to Trump’s first administration, when the FBI launched an investigation after Arick Komarczyk opened U.S. bank accounts for Maduro’s children. Kash Patel explained, "Nicolás Maduro is not just another corrupt strongman, he is an indicted narco-terrorist dictator with a $50 million bounty on his head from the United States Department of Justice.
"His regime’s laundering schemes are nothing more than criminal lifelines for a failing dictatorship, and under my leadership, this FBI will continue to choke off every dollar, every account, and every enabler. America will never be a safe haven for Maduro’s blood money."
The United States does not recognize Maduro as a legitimate leader of Venezuela, and it continues to offer a reward for information that leads to his arrest. I doubt Maduro will be putting himself at risk of an arrest anytime soon, but it is quite clear that this administration is not going to give him an inch of space to breathe comfortably.
