Nicolas Maduro and his wife are taken to the federal court in Manhattan for their first hearing
Nicolas Maduro and his wife were driven in a convoy, under heavy security, to the federal court in New York
The president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, arrived this Monday with his wife, Cilia Flores, at the federal court in southern New York, in Manhattan, where he will appear for the first time before a judge, initially at 12:00 local time (17:00 GMT), after having been captured last Saturday in Caracas and later transferred to the United States.
Maduro and Flores were transferred from the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn to a field on the outskirts of the city, from where they boarded a helicopter that took them to a helipad near the federal courthouse in the Southern District of New York.
The aircraft landed minutes later in the vicinity of the courthouse.
Subsequently, both were driven in a convoy of five vehicles and under heavy police escort to the courthouse, according to images released by US media.
Meanwhile, police kept several streets closed in the surrounding area during the security operation.
Maduro, guarded by agents from the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), got out with great difficulty and had to be helped by the agents into an armored vehicle that took him to the courthouse.
Monday's appearance marks the first time Maduro is appearing before US justice after the Department of Justice made public a formal indictment against him last Saturday for drug trafficking-related crimes, originally filed in 2020. This expanded indictment reiterates the charges against Maduro, the main defendant, for narcoterrorism conspiracy, conspiracy to import cocaine, conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to use those weapons. But, for the first time, the indictment includes Cilia Flores, Maduro's wife, whom the prosecution accuses, according to its investigation, of her alleged involvement in coordinating meetings and logistics for the network.According to prosecutors, his inclusion broadens the scope of the case and supports the hypothesis that drug trafficking was part of a network organized from the highest levels of Venezuelan power. The case is based in the Southern District of New York and is being handled by 92-year-old Federal Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein. Following the initial hearing, the court is expected to determine the next steps in the proceedings, including the conditions of detention and the court schedule.