Unsealed indictment reveals charges against Nicolás Maduro and his wife

Venezuelan president accused of running a ‘corrupt’ government fuelled by a drug-trafficking operation that flooded US with cocaine

• Maduro detained in New York after – live updates

A newly unsealed US justice department indictment accuses the captured Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, of running a “corrupt, illegitimate government” fuelled by an extensive drug-trafficking operation that flooded the US with thousands of tons of cocaine.

The arrest of Maduro and his wife in a stunning military operation early on Saturday in Venezuela sets the stage for a major test for US prosecutors as they seek to secure a conviction in a Manhattan courtroom against the longtime leader of the oil-rich South American nation.