Maduro, wife to face New York drug trial from June 1 next year

Newyork,UPDATED: Jul 22, 2026 23:42 IST

Former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, will go on trial in New York on June 1 next year on US drug trafficking charges, while their lawyers continue to challenge the American military operation that removed them from power and brought them to the United States.

Judge Alvin K Hellerstein set the trial date on Wednesday at the request of lawyers on both sides. Under the schedule approved by the court, defence lawyers will begin filing motions in early September to challenge the indictment, and the couple will return to court on November 17 for oral arguments. Maduro, 63, and Flores, 69, have both pleaded not guilty and could face life sentences if convicted of conspiring to send cocaine into the US.

Maduro and Flores have been held in a jail in Brooklyn since US forces seized them from their home in Caracas in a late-night raid and flew them to New York in early January. During Wednesday's 15-minute hearing, neither of them spoke as they sat separately at defence tables, surrounded by their lawyers.

As he was brought into court, Maduro, wearing glasses, greeted the judge's staff and shook hands with lawyers representing him and his wife. He appeared noticeably thinner in a tan jail uniform and seemed relaxed, smiling and speaking with his lawyer. He listened to a Spanish translation of the hearing through headphones, held his hands together in front of him, and at times wrote notes on a white pad with a black pen. As deputy US marshals led him out, he waved to someone in the gallery.

President Donald Trump's administration has defended the raid as a "surgical law enforcement operation" in a criminal case first filed six years ago. Maduro has described himself as a prisoner of war and his capture as a kidnapping.

US prosecutors have alleged that Maduro took part in a conspiracy to move thousands of tons of cocaine into the United States by working with Venezuelan law enforcement to assist drug traffickers. At his arraignment in January, Maduro said in Spanish, "I am not guilty. I am a decent man, the constitutional president of my country."

Maduro's lawyer, Barry Pollack, has said he expects to challenge what he called Maduro's "military abduction". During Wednesday's hearing, Pollack told the court that he would first challenge the indictment on sovereign immunity grounds, saying that if that argument succeeds, Maduro would not need to continue fighting the case. Lawyers for the defence have said there are complex legal issues that must be decided before the trial can begin.

Neither Maduro nor Flores has sought bail. For now, the case will move to the next stage with defence motions due in September, oral arguments in November, and the trial scheduled to begin in June next year.

With PTI Inputs

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