Trump issues $50,000,000 bounty on world leader for allegedly aiding terrorists bring 'deadly violence' to US
Topics: Donald Trump, Crime, US News, Politics, Drugs
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Featured Image Credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images
Topics: Donald Trump, Crime, US News, Politics, Drugs
Donald Trump is offering a hefty reward for the capture of a man allegedly behind aiding terrorists to bring 'deadly violence' to America.
The Trump administration is reportedly offering a $50 million bounty for information that would lead to the arrest of notorious Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who they claimed to be one of the 'largest' drug traffickers around the world.
Making the announcement on Thursday (August 7), Attorney General Pam Bondi accused Maduro, who has been the leader of the South American country since 2013, of conspiring in a major drug trafficking network that has been injecting the streets with a flow of fentanyl-laced cocaine and gang violence.
Speaking in a video published on Twitter, Bondi said the US government is offering a 'historic' reward for the whereabouts of Maduro.
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“Maduro uses foreign terrorist organizations like [Tren de Aragua], Sinaloa and Cartel of the Suns to bring deadly drugs and violence into our country,” she said.
"Today, the DEA has seized 30 tons of cocaine linked to Maduro and his associates with nearly seven tons linked to Maduro himself which represents a primary source of income for the deadly cartels based in Venezuela and Mexico."
Bondi further claimed cocaine linked to Maduro is 'often laced with fentanyl', a lethal synthetic opioid which has resulted in 'the loss and destruction of countless American lives.'
The Republican attorney further alleged that the Department of Justice has seized more than $700 million of 'Maduro-linked assets' - including two private jets and nine vehicles.
"Yet Maduro's reign of terror continues," Bondi said. "He is one of the largest narco traffickers in the world and a threat to our national security."
Today, @TheJusticeDept and @StateDept are announcing a $50 MILLION REWARD for information leading to the arrest of Nicolás Maduro. pic.twitter.com/D8LNqjS9yk
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) August 7, 2025
In March 2020, the 62-year-old alleged drug trafficker was hit with several federal charges in the Southern District of New York related to his criminal enterprise, including narco-terrorism, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, conspiracy to import cocaine, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.
Immediately after the indictment and during Trump's first term, the US government offered a $15 million bounty, which Joe Biden upped to $25 million.
Now, the Trump administration has doubled the reward as Bondi concluded in her statement: "Therefore, we've doubled his reward to $50 million.
"Under President Trump's leadership, Maduro will not escape justice and he will be held accountable for his despicable crimes.
"If you have any information to bring this criminal to justice, call 1-202 307-4228 or go online."
The reward comes as Maduro's alleged authoritarian presidency spans more than a decade and has been marred by accusations of electoral fraud, human rights abuse, and corruption.
In 2018, there was so much doubt over the legitimacy of his 2018 presidential election victory that the president of the National Assembly, Juan Guaidó, was declared the true leader of the country by legislators.
Trump even invited Guaidó as a special guest to the US in February 2020 where he called him the 'true and legitimate president of Venezuela'.
Yet last year, Maduro was declared the winner of the 2024 presidential election again. The number of votes from across the 30,000 polling booths in the country were not released by the authority.
The opposition claimed Edmundo González, a former diplomat, was the winner, claiming he had twice as many votes.
Former Secretary of State Antony Blinken formally recognised González as the president-elect of Venezuela, and Trump has kept that same view.
Both González and Guaidó have since fled the country after Maduro ordered for their arrest.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said only last month: "One year since dictator Nicolás Maduro defied the will of the Venezuelan people by baselessly declaring himself the winner, the United States remains firm in its unwavering support to Venezuela’s restoration of democratic order and justice.
"Maduro is not the President of Venezuela and his regime is not the legitimate government."