Bondi claimed Maduro, who has ruled Venezuela since 2013, is at the centre of an international cocaine operation linked to violent cartels, including Tren de Aragua, Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, and Venezuela’s own Cartel of the Suns.

“Maduro uses foreign terrorist organisations to bring deadly drugs and violence into our country,” Bondi said in a video statement. “Today, the DEA has seized 30 tons of cocaine tied to Maduro and his associates, nearly seven tons connected to Maduro personally.”

She added that cocaine from Maduro’s network is “often laced with fentanyl,” a synthetic opioid blamed for tens of thousands of deaths in the US.

According to Bondi, more than $700 million in assets linked to Maduro have been seized by US authorities, including two private jets and nine vehicles. “Yet Maduro’s reign of terror continues,” she said. “He