Which Venezuelan officials have been sanctioned or indicted by the U.S. for drug-related crimes?
Executive summary
The United States has both indicted and sanctioned multiple high‑level Venezuelan officials on drug‑related charges: the Justice Department unsealed indictments charging Nicolás Maduro and 14 current and former officials with narco‑terrorism, drug trafficking and related crimes [1] [2], while the U.S. Treasury and State Departments have applied terrorism‑style and financial sanctions targeting the so‑called “Cartel de los Soles” and Maduro, including a $50 million reward offer [3] [4]. U.S. actions also extend to sanctions and criminal cases against other senior figures such as Tareck El Aissami, Hugo Carvajal (who pleaded guilty in U.S. court), Maikel Moreno, and several associates tied to sanctions‑evasion and money‑laundering schemes [1] [2] [5].
1. What Washington has charged: narco‑terrorism and a broad indictment of Maduro’s circle
The U.S. Department of Justice publicly announced charges naming Nicolás Maduro and 14 current and former Venezuelan officials on a slate of offenses including narco‑terrorism, drug trafficking, corruption and money laundering, with prosecutions pursued in New York, Miami and Washington, D.C., according to the DOJ release [1]. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) materials and HSI statements confirm the scope: charges against Maduro, the vice president for the economy, the defense minister, the chief justice of the Supreme Court and others were unveiled after multi‑office investigations by HSI and the DEA [2] [1].
2. High‑profile named defendants and related cases
Reporting and official releases list specific senior names tied to U.S. actions. Tareck Zaidan El Aissami — identified as Venezuela’s vice president for the economy in DOJ and ICE materials — faced superseding indictments tied to sanctions‑evasion schemes [1] [2]. Former head of military counterintelligence Hugo Carvajal pleaded guilty to U.S. drug charges in 2025 [5]. Maikel José Moreno, the chief justice, was charged in Miami with alleged money‑laundering tied to fixing cases and bribe schemes [1]. Those sources describe prosecutions and superseding indictments rather than conviction histories in every instance [1] [2].
3. Sanctions and terrorist designations beyond criminal indictments
The U.S. Treasury designated the “Cartel de los Soles” as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity and the State Department followed with broader measures, including increasing the reward on Maduro to $50 million — actions that impose financial and travel restrictions distinct from criminal indictments [3] [4]. Reuters and Treasury materials note that the Cartel de los Soles designation was framed as targeting a network “headed by Nicolas Maduro Moros and other high‑ranking Venezuelan individuals” [3] [6].
4. How U.S. agencies described the alleged wrongdoing
Justice and Treasury statements characterize the accused Venezuelan officials as facilitating trafficking operations, providing material support to transnational criminal organizations, and using state institutions to shield illicit flows and sanctions‑evasion; the Treasury explicitly links Cartel de los Soles to trafficking fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine into the United States [3] [1]. ICE and DOJ materials emphasize multi‑agency task forces and long investigations by HSI and the DEA [2] [1].
5. Pushback and caveats: legal, political and analytical disagreements
Outside analysts and some reporting urge caution in equating the label “cartel” with a single hierarchical drug gang; InSight Crime and Reuters note that “Cartel de los Soles” can describe a system of corruption rather than a classic organized‑crime hierarchy, and some sanctions experts question statutory fit for particular terrorism designations [6]. The Guardian and other outlets report that Venezuelan authorities call U.S. moves “ridiculous” or a pretext for intervention, and that human‑rights and legal observers have raised concerns about the use of military force tied to narcotics campaigns [6] [7].
6. Wider sanctions universe and related targets
Congressional research and sanctions trackers document a broader U.S. program of targeted sanctions: as of mid‑2025, Treasury had placed Specially Designated Nationals listings on roughly 151 Venezuelans and three entities, and the Atlantic Council and other trackers show additional sanctions on prison gangs (Tren de Aragua) and prison‑gang leaders, reflecting an expanding U.S. targeting of both state actors and non‑state criminal groups [8] [9] [3].
7. What reporting does not cover or leaves open
Available sources do not mention a comprehensive list in a single document tying every sanctioned or indicted Venezuelan official; instead, the public record is spread across DOJ press releases, ICE archives, Treasury designations and media reports [1] [2] [3]. Detailed outcome information — convictions, asset forfeitures, extraditions or the status of each legal case beyond initial charges or pleas (except Hugo Carvajal’s guilty plea) — is not fully summarized in the cited materials [5] [1].
Conclusion: U.S. actions against Venezuelan officials combine criminal indictments (including charges naming Maduro and other senior officials) and an expanding palette of sanctions and terrorism‑style designations aimed at “Cartel de los Soles” and allied criminal groups; legal experts and investigative outlets, however, warn that the reality may be a hybrid of state corruption and criminal networks rather than a single monolithic cartel — a distinction that matters for law, policy and regional stability [1] [3] [6].