US Indictment against Maduro cites “Caribbean Route” corruption, pulling region into Trump's security narrative

NEW YORK--A United States criminal indictment against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro alleges that politicians along a “Caribbean route” accepted payments from cocaine traffickers in exchange for protection from arrest and freedom to operate as drugs moved north toward the United States, an allegation that lands as President Donald Trump has publicly threatened to target any nation he views as a “drug threat” to the United States through economic measures or direct military action.

The timing is significant for Caribbean states, because even unnamed references to political protection along a Caribbean corridor can pull the region into Washington’s security narrative. Caribbean links being cited in a high-profile case, even without specific officials named, could put certain countries on Trump’s radar if his administration treats “drug threat” designations as a premise for pressure, sanctions, or other interventions.

The indictment was made public hours after Trump announced that Maduro and his wife had been captured and removed from Venezuela following a reported US military operation on January 3. US officials later said Maduro would face trial in the United States on criminal charges.

Prosecutors argue that drug trafficking networks operating out of Venezuela relied on systemic corruption across the region, with political protection playing a central role in moving cocaine from South America through the Caribbean, Central America, and Mexico.

According to the document, traffickers in key transit areas paid politicians a portion of their profits to secure protection and political cover. It alleges that this pattern extended to trafficking routes described as the “Caribbean route,” claiming that politicians were paid to shield favored traffickers from arrest and allow them to operate with impunity as cocaine moved north from Venezuela toward the United States. The indictment does not name individual Caribbean officials.

US authorities describe Venezuela as strategically positioned for trafficking, citing northern access to the Caribbean Sea through major ports and western access toward Colombia, where coca is cultivated and processed into most of the world’s cocaine supply. The document further alleges that, beginning around 1999, Venezuela became a “safe haven” for traffickers willing to pay for protection from corrupt civilian and military officials, allowing cocaine trafficking to expand.

The indictment alleges that senior Venezuelan officials and family members “partnered with narcotics traffickers and narco-terrorist groups” to move cocaine through Caribbean and Central American transshipment points.

Named alongside Maduro are Diosdado Cabello Rondón, Ramón Rodríguez Chacín, Cilia Adela Flores de Maduro, and Nicolás Ernesto Maduro Guerra, also known as “Nicolasito” or “The Prince.”

US prosecutors estimate that by 2020, between 200 and 250 tons of cocaine were trafficked through Venezuela annually, with shipments moving through the Caribbean and Central America en route to the United States.

While the case does not identify specific Caribbean politicians, the indictment’s language is likely to intensify regional scrutiny as proceedings unfold, particularly in a political environment where Trump has framed “drug threat” labeling as a trigger for punitive action, and where being mentioned, even indirectly, can have diplomatic and economic consequences for small states tied to regional transit routes.

‍