{"id":370536,"date":"2026-07-23T04:31:48","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T23:01:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/?p=370536"},"modified":"2026-07-23T04:31:48","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T23:01:48","slug":"nicolas-maduro-to-face-trial-on-u-s-drug-trafficking-charges-in-june-2027-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/2026\/07\/23\/nicolas-maduro-to-face-trial-on-u-s-drug-trafficking-charges-in-june-2027-national\/","title":{"rendered":"Nicolas Maduro to face trial on U.S. drug trafficking charges in June 2027 – National"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Former Venezuelan president Nicol\u00e1s Maduro and his wife will go on trial on drug trafficking charges next June, a judge said Wednesday, as their lawyers proceed to object to the U.S. military motion that snatched them from power.<\/p>\n

Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein set the June 1 trial date on the request of lawyers on either side. Under the approved schedule, defense lawyers will begin filing requests in early September to challenge the indictment and the couple will return to the courtroom Nov. 17 for oral arguments on the motions.<\/p>\n

Maduro, 63, and his wife, Cilia Flores, 69, have been held at a Brooklyn jail since U.S. forces seized them from their Caracas home in a middle-of-the-night raid and brought them to Recent York in early January.<\/p>\n

Neither spoke during Wednesday\u2019s 15-minute hearing as each sat individually at a defense table, surrounded by their lawyers. Each have pleaded not guilty. They face potential life prison sentences if a jury agrees that they were a part of a conspiracy to send cocaine into the U.S.<\/p>\n

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As he was led into the courtroom, the bespectacled Maduro greeted the judge\u2019s staff and shook hands with lawyers for him and his wife. Noticeably thinner in a tan jail suit and along with his thick mustache, he seemed upbeat, smiling and chatting along with his lawyer. He listened to a Spanish interpretation of the proceeding through headphones and clasped his hands in front of him in a prayerlike gesture. He had a black pen wedged in his right fingers and sporadically jotted notes on a white pad.<\/p>\n

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As deputy U.S. marshals led him out, he waved to someone within the gallery.<\/p>\n

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