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US Attorney General Pam Bondi says Venezuelan president one of the world’s ‘largest narco-traffickers’.

The United States has offered a $50m reward for information leading to the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, doubling an earlier reward of $25m set by the Trump administration in January.

The US has accused the Venezuelan leader of being one of the world’s leading narco-traffickers and working with cartels to flood the US with fentanyl-laced cocaine.

In a video posted to social media on Thursday announcing the “historic” increase in reward money, US Attorney General Pam Bondi accused Maduro of collaborating with Venezuelan crime syndicates Tren de Aragua, Cartel of the Suns and the notorious Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico.

“He is one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world and a threat to our national security. Therefore, we doubled his reward to $50 million,” Bondi said.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, Maduro will not escape justice, and he will be held accountable for his despicable crimes,” she said, before giving the public a hotline phone number where they can report tips.

Bondi also said that the US Department of Justice had so far seized more than $700m in assets linked to Maduro, including two private jets, nine vehicles, and claimed that tonnes of seized cocaine had been traced directly to the president.

Today, @TheJusticeDept and @StateDept are announcing a $50 MILLION REWARD for information leading to the arrest of Nicolás Maduro. pic.twitter.com/D8LNqjS9yk

— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) August 7, 2025

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil responded on the Telegram platform to Bondi’s announcement, saying it was “the most ridiculous smokescreen ever seen” and designed to distract attention from the Jeffrey Epstein controversy in the US.

“It does not surprise us, coming from who it comes from. The same one who promised a non-existent ‘secret list’ of Epstein and who wallows in scandals of political favours,” the minister said.

“Her show is a joke, a desperate distraction from her own miseries. The dignity of our homeland is not for sale. We reject this crude political propaganda operation,” he said.

Maduro was indicted in a US federal court in 2020, during the first Trump presidency, along with several close allies, on federal drug charges.

At the time, the US offered a $15m reward for his arrest. That was later raised by the Biden administration to $25m – the same amount the US offered for the capture of Osama bin Laden following the September 11, 2001, attacks.

In June, a former director of the Venezuelan military intelligence pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and narco-terrorism charges in the US, a week before his trial was set to begin.

Hugo Carvajal, who served in the government of the late President Hugo Chavez from 2004 to 2011, admitted guilt in four criminal counts, including narco-terrorism conspiracy, conspiracy to import cocaine and weapons charges.

US federal prosecutors had alleged the former major-general, along with other high-ranking Venezuelan government and military officials, led a drug cartel that attempted to “flood” the US with cocaine.

Carvajal had served as a diplomat representing Maduro’s government before breaking with him to support the country’s US-backed political opposition. He was extradited from Spain to the US in July 2023 following more than a decade-long campaign by the Justice Department.

Despite the US rewards, Maduro remains in power after his re-election as president in 2024 in a vote that was condemned as a sham by Washington, the European Union and several Latin American governments.

Last month, the Trump administration struck a deal to secure the release of 10 Americans jailed in Caracas in exchange for Venezuela seeing the return home of dozens of people deported by the US to El Salvador under the Trump administration’s new immigration crackdown.

Shortly after, the White House also reversed course and allowed US oil giant Chevron to resume drilling in Venezuela after it was previously blocked by US sanctions.

SEAN “Diddy” Combs has been denied $50 million bail – for the second time – ahead of his October 3 sentencing on prostitution charges.

Judge Arun Subramanian agreed with federal prosecutors’ decision to keep the disgraced rapper locked up at MDC Brooklyn.

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In a court order issued on Monday, the US district judge wrote there were no “exceptional reasons” warranting Combs’ release before his sentencing.

The former music mogul reportedly filed a new motion for bail last week, offering a $50 million bail package in which he pledged to stay at his Miami home and restrict travel to Florida and New York.

His legal team argued there is no binding precedent for keeping him in jail before sentencing – an argument Judge Subramanian rejected.

They also claimed he is likely the only man in America jailed for hiring male sex workers to sleep with his girlfriend.

But Subramanian dismissed this, stating that the case involved “evidence of violence, coercion or subjugation in connection with the acts of prostitution”.

When Combs’ legal team raised concerns about his safety at MDC Brooklyn, Subramanian said staff protected Combs “even during an incident of threatened violence from an inmate”.

The judge added that the bail denial will not affect Combs’ sentencing in 60 days’ time.

Combs faces a maximum 20-year prison sentence – 10 years for each count of transportation to engage in prostitution.

However, federal prosecutors have said they would seek a three- to five-year sentence.

On July 2, Combs was convicted on two prostitution-related counts, but was acquitted of the more serious charges he faced.

He was acquitted of racketeering conspiracy and two counts of sex trafficking in regard to his ex-girlfriends Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura and “Jane” (pseudonym).

The music executive fell to his knees in prayer after the jury foreperson read the verdict.

Combs’ defence team delivered a post-verdict victory speech to reporters outside the US District Courthouse, calling the outcome a “great victory for the jury system”.

Agnifilo said the 12-person jury “got the situation right – or certainly, right enough”.

“We are not nearly done fighting. We’re not going to stop until he walks out of prison a free man to his family,” he added.

Meanwhile, in their closing arguments, prosecutors described Combs as the “leader of a criminal enterprise”, who used his expansive “wealth, power, violence, and fear to get what he wanted”.

The prosecution’s case centred on disturbing and graphic testimony about drug-fuelled “freak-offs” during which Combs allegedly coerced his ex-girlfriends into participate in sex acts with male escorts.

Prosecutor Slavik told jurors that Combs forced Cassandra Ventura and “Jane” into punishing sex marathons and – with the help of a close circle of “loyal lieutenants” – concealed the alleged abuse.

Ventura and “Jane” were sometimes required to engage in these acts – referred to as “hotel nights” and “wild king nights” – even while suffering from painful urinary tract infections (UTIs), according to prosecutors.

Combs was first denied bail in November 2024 – shortly after his arrest in late September of that year.

The time Combs has already served in jail – which will be over a year by the time he is sentenced – will be credited towards the final sentence imposed by the judge.

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Tom McCoy, BBC Sport

Madueke has made the vast majority of his appearances for the Blues on the right, with 88% of his Premier League minutes coming on that flank since joining in January 2023.

His signing would, therefore, ease the burden Bukayo Saka, who has perhaps been overworked in recent seasons. Saka started 108 of 114 league matches from 2021-22 to 23-24 but missed three months of the most recent campaign with a hamstring injury. Like Saka, when Madueke features on the right wing he looks to cut inside and shoot with his favoured left foot.

Madueke actually ended last season playing on the left for Chelsea, with head coach Enzo Maresca altering his approach during the run-in.

The former PSV Eindhoven man started four of the Blues’ final five Premier League matches on that flank, plus the Conference League final. He also began on the left in England’s win against Andorra in June, when he was one of the Three Lions’ better performers, setting up Harry Kane’s winner.

So in addition to cover for Saka on the right, Madueke could provide competition for both Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard on the opposite wing, where he would offer a slightly more direct threat.

In the most recent Premier League season, Madueke attempted more shots and dribbles per 90 minutes than both Martinelli and Trossard and carried the ball significantly further.