RICHMOND, Va. — A law enforcement leader familiar to Richmond played a leading role in the government's efforts to target the Maduro regime in Venezuela.
Former Virginia Secretary of Public Safety Terry Cole served in Governor Youngkin's cabinet for two years before being appointed to DEA Administrator last February by President Trump.
Cole was seen escorting the handcuffed former leader Nicolás Maduro off a U.S. federal airplane in New York on Saturday.
WATCH: Caracas After Maduro: Venezuela faces uncertain future following US raid
Maduro is facing long-standing federal charges related to drug trafficking and working with gangs designated as terrorist organizations.
A newly unsealed U.S. Justice Department indictment accuses Maduro of running a “corrupt, illegitimate government” fueled by a drug-trafficking operation that flooded the U.S. with thousands of tons of cocaine.
The arrest of Maduro and his wife in a stunning military operation early Saturday in Venezuela sets the stage for a major test for U.S. prosecutors as they seek to secure a conviction in a Manhattan courtroom against the longtime leader of the oil-rich South American nation.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a post on X that Maduro and his wife “will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts.”
National News
How cocaine and corruption led to the indictment of Maduro
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