The United States Department of Justice opened a new criminal investigation in Miami against former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, amid internal doubts about the strength of the drug trafficking case he is currently facing in New York, as revealed by the Miami Herald newspaper and confirmed by sources cited by CBS News.

According to CBS News, federal prosecutors in South Florida were instructed to open a new criminal case against Maduro after he was already in US custody for federal charges originally filed in New York.

The sources consulted indicated that the investigation formally began around March and is being supervised by federal prosecutor Michael Berger, who specializes in financial crimes and international cases. Agents from the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the IRS Criminal Investigation Division also participate, according to the media.

The new file would be focused mainly on possible financial crimes and money laundering operations linked to Maduro's entourage, particularly through Colombian businessman Alex Saab, considered for years one of his main economic operators, added the Miami Herald.

Saab was previously extradited from Cape Verde to the United States and faced money laundering charges before being pardoned in 2023 by then-President Joe Biden as part of a prisoner swap with Venezuela.

Meanwhile, Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were transferred to the United States at the beginning of the year to face federal charges related to drug trafficking and weapons. Both pleaded not guilty.

The accusation originally filed in New York includes crimes of narcoterrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine and possession of firearms, in addition to accusations of having facilitated “diplomatic cover” for operations linked to drug trafficking.

However, analysts at CBS News have questioned the legal strength of that case. Some pointed out that much of the cocaine that reaches the United States comes directly from Colombia and does not necessarily transit through Venezuela, which could make it difficult to prove the central role attributed to Maduro in the drug trafficking network. The DEA has previously indicated that Colombia remains the main source of cocaine entering the US market.

Sources close to the case assured that within the Department of Justice there is concern about the absence of solid financial charges in the New York file, which is why the new investigation in Miami would seek to reinforce the judicial process through possible accusations of money laundering and transnational corruption.