Venezuela’s Maduro, wife due back in US court in drug trafficking case

Venezuela’s ⁠ousted president Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores are due back in a US court on Wednesday for a hearing over the upcoming schedule in their drug trafficking case, including a possible June 2027 trial start date.

The hearing before US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, scheduled to start at noon local time in Manhattan federal court, could shed light on the next steps in one of the ‌most high-profile and consequential criminal cases in recent US history.

US Special Forces captured Maduro and Flores at their heavily guarded home in Caracas during a January 3 nighttime raid ordered by President Donald Trump.

They were brought to New York, where they had been indicted on charges of using their leadership positions in the oil-rich South American country to facilitate cocaine shipments. They have pleaded not guilty, and no trial date has been set.

In a court filing on Tuesday night, prosecutors with the Manhattan US Attorney’s office and Maduro’s defence lawyers proposed a June 2027 start to the trial. Hellerstein must ultimately ⁠set the schedule, and both parties said they might seek adjustments.

In the filing, lawyers for both sides proposed that ‌Maduro’s first round of legal motions to try to have the case dismissed would be due on September 2. They said that would likely include a motion to dismiss the case on the basis that he should be immune from prosecution as the ‌head of a sovereign state.