Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro appeared in a New York court on Monday afternoon, saying he had been “kidnapped” with his wife by U.S. forces from their home in Caracas, and that he was a “prisoner of war,” as he pleaded not guilty to drug-trafficking charges Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who is also charged in the case, have been held since they were taken from Venezuela on Saturday after a U.S. strike on the country at the orders of U.S. President Donald Trump. Flores also pleaded not guilty.
“I’m innocent. I am not guilty of anything,” Maduro repeatedly said through a translator to Judge Alvin Hellerstein during his appearance in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
Flores said, “I am first lady of the Republic of Venezuela.”
“Not guilty. Completely innocent,” Flores replied when asked for her plea.
Flores had a large bruise on her forehead. Her attorney requested that she get medical attention from jail officials for injuries she sustained during her capture Saturday, including an X-ray for her ribs, which are believed to be broken or severely bruised.
The couple agreed to remain in jail without bail for now, but could submit a bail application in the future.
Hellerstein set the next court date for the case on March 17.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, whose office is prosecuting the couple, during an interview Monday morning on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” said, “From the perspective of where I sit, my people and I are completely comfortable with this prosecution.”
Defense lawyer Barry Pollack represented Maduro at the hearing.. Pollack previously represented WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in Assange’s federal criminal case.
Pollack said during the hearing said Maduro “is head of a sovereign state and entitled to the privilege” from that status. Pollack also said there were “questions about the legality of his military abduction” and that there would be “voluminous” court filings addressing that issue.
Flores is being represented by Mark Donnelly, a former federal prosecutor in Texas.
Maduro, 63, is charged in a federal indictment with narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices. He has previously denied the allegations.
Flores, 69, is charged with the cocaine conspiracy and weapons counts.
Maduro, whom the indictment refers to as the “illegitimate ruler” of Venezuela as a result of fraudulent election results, is accused of partnering with co-conspirators, narcotics traffickers, and narco-terrorist groups to import tons of cocaine into the United States.
Maduro and his wife appeared at around noon before Judge Hellerstein.
“Nicolas Maduro Moros, the defendant, now sits atop a corrupt, illegitimate government that, for decades, has leveraged government power to protect and promote illegal activity, including drug trafficking,” the 25-page indictment alleges.
“This cycle of narcotics-based corruption lines the pockets of Venezuelan officials and their families while also benefiting violent narco-terrorists who operate with impunity on Venezuelan soil and who help produce, protect, and transport tons of cocaine to the United States,” the indictment says.
Among the alleged overt acts detailed in the indictment is a meeting that Flores attended in approximately 2007, in which she purportedly “accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to broker a meeting between a large-scale drug trafficker and the director of Venezuela’s National Anti-Drug Office, Nestor Reverol Torres.”
“The drug trafficker later arranged to pay a monthly bribe to Reverol Torres, in addition to approximately $100,000 for each flight that was transporting cocaine to ensure the flight’s safe passage, a portion of which was then paid to Flores de Maduro,” the indictment alleges.
“Reverol Torres was charged with narcotics offenses in the Eastern District of New York and is a fugitive.”
The other defendants charged in the same indictment are not in U.S. custody.
Those defendants are Maduro’s son, Nicolas Ernesto Maduro Guerra; Diosdado Cabello Rondon; Ramon Rodriguez Chacin; and Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores.
Cabello is Venezuela’s interior minister, a post previously held by Rodriguez.
Guerrero has been identified as the leader of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
The Trump administration has faced questions about Maduro’s apprehension in his own country, given Trump’s recent pardon of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was convicted in 2024 of conspiring with drug traffickers and using his government position to help hundreds of tons of cocaine enter the United States.
By CNBC
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