A Reward Offered for Information About Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro Is Insanely High

When Hugo Chávez died from cancer in March 2013, the Venezuelan president had already put the necessary pieces in place to secure a vote for his predecessor. In April 2013, Nicolas Maduro was elected president, and since that moment, Maduro has pushed Venezuela further and further down the authoritarian path.

Following his third election in 2024, Maduro was accused of stealing the race from his opponent, retired diplomat Edmundo González, who fled the country following the loss, per The Guardian. President Donald Trump has had a sort of on-again-off-again relationship with Maduro, which appears to be off at the moment. In fact, there is a huge reward for information leading to the arrest or conviction of the Venezuelan president. Here's what we know.

According to the U.S. Department of State, as of September 2025 there is a $50 million reward Maduro, which was bumped up from $15 million in 2020. This increase in reward money occurred in July 2025 after the Department of Treasury sanctioned Cartel of the Suns as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, alleging that Maduro is the leader of this cartel. He was previously facing drug trafficking charges from the Justice Department that date back to 2020, per CNN.

The press release from the State Department goes on to say that Maduro "participated in a corrupt and violent narco-terrorism conspiracy with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization." It also accused Maduro of negotiating multi-ton shipments of cocaine produced by FARC, which facilitated large-scale drug trafficking. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Maduro is a "threat to the national security."

Speaking from Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, Maduro denies the allegations of drug trafficking that have been lodged against him by President Donald Trump. That didn't stop the administration from sending 4,000 U.S. military personnel to Caribbean waters in late August 2025, reports PBS. This is part of President Trump's push to use the military to thwart the flow of fentanyl and other illicit drugs into America.

A few days later, a U.S. strike on an alleged Venezuela drug boat was carried out on Sept. 2, per the BBC. It resulted in the deaths of 11 so-called drug traffickers. Footage of the attack was shared by President Trump on Truth Social who claimed the 11 people on board were "positively identified Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists."

The president went on to accuse Maduro of also being the leader of Tren de Aragua, though we have to see any proof of this. According to Fox News, a declassified document from the National Intelligence Council in April determined that there is no coordination between Tren de Aragua and the Venezuelan government. In a statement, Maduro said Venezuela is prepared to respond to any attacks and called the move "an extravagant, unjustifiable, immoral, and absolutely criminal and bloody threat."