Maduro cites sovereign immunity in push to toss federal drug trafficking charges

Key Points:

• Former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores have filed a motion to dismiss U.S. drug trafficking charges against them, claiming sovereign immunity as sitting heads of state recognized by Venezuela.
• The U.S. indictment, unsealed in January 2026, accuses Maduro of narco-terrorism conspiracy and both of cocaine importation and possession of machine guns, alleging decades of collaboration with drug cartels to traffic cocaine into the U.S.
• Maduro's lawyers argue that his official acts as head of state are protected by immunity, that the indictment lacks jurisdictional basis under U.S. law, and that the charges violate due process since the alleged crimes did not occur in or target the U.S.
• Maduro and Flores were captured in January during a U.S. military operation in Caracas and extradited to New York for prosecution; Maduro is scheduled to begin oral arguments on the dismissal motion in November.
• The U.S. government declared Maduro illegitimate in 2019 following a disputed election, intensifying the political and legal conflict surrounding his prosecution in U.S. courts.