Nicolás Maduro Moros (Captured)
Status: Nicolás Maduro Moros (Captured)
U.S. Department of State: January 6, 2026
WANTED: NICOLÁS MADURO MOROS
REWARD INCREASE OF UP TO $50 MILLION
NAME: Nicolás Maduro Moros
ALIASES: N/A
DOB: November 23, 1962
POB: Caracas, Venezuela
NATIONALITY: Venezuelan
CITIZENSHIP: Venezuelan
HEIGHT: 6’3”
WEIGHT: Unknown
HAIR COLOR: Black
EYE COLOR: Brown
SCARS, TATTOOS, OR MARKS: Unknown
Nicolás Maduro Moros became president of Venezuela following Hugo Chavez’s death in 2013 and declared victory in a presidential election in 2018. In 2019, the National Assembly of Venezuela invoked the Venezuelan constitution and declared that Maduro had usurped power and was not the president of Venezuela. Since 2019, more than 50 countries, including the United States, have refused to recognize Maduro as Venezuela’s head of state.
In the July 2024 Venezuelan presidential election, Maduro again declared himself the victor despite evidence to the contrary. The United States joined many other countries in refusing to recognize Maduro as the legitimately elected president in the 2024 contested election.
Maduro helped manage and ultimately lead the Cartel of the Suns, a Venezuelan drug-trafficking organization comprised of high-ranking Venezuelan officials. As he gained power in Venezuela, Maduro participated in a corrupt and violent narco-terrorism conspiracy with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization. Maduro negotiated multi-ton shipments of FARC-produced cocaine; directed the Cartel of the Suns to provide military-grade weapons to the FARC; coordinated with narcotics traffickers in Honduras and other countries to facilitate large-scale drug trafficking; and solicited assistance from FARC leadership in training an unsanctioned militia group that functioned, in essence, as an armed forces unit for the Cartel of the Suns.
In March 2020, Maduro was charged in the Southern District of New York for narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.
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.
If you have information, please contact the DEA by email at CartelSolesTips@usdoj.gov.
ALL IDENTITIES ARE KEPT STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL.
Government officials and employees are not eligible for rewards.
Read More
- Maduro Pleads Not Guilty in Manhattan Court; Next Hearing Set for March 17
- Attorney General William P. Barr’s remark on Criminal Charges against Venezuelan Officials (2020)
- Nicolás Maduro and 14 Venezuelan Officials charged with Narco-terrorism (2020)
- Trump, Venezuela and Europe’s Dilemma: Sánchez Draws a Hard Line
- Global outrage over Venezuela President Maduro’s Capture
