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Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and US Justice Department prosecutors jointly proposed a June 2027 start date for Maduro’s criminal drug trafficking trial in New York.
The submission filed in Manhattan federal court precedes a scheduled procedural hearing, leaving US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein to review and set the final trial timeline.
The upcoming trial follows a dramatic military intervention in January, when US Special Forces captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, during a nighttime raid in Caracas.
Federal authorities subsequently extradited the pair to New York to face long-standing federal indictments alleging narco-terrorism and international narcotics trafficking, to which both defendants have pleaded not guilty.
If approved, the proposed 2027 trial date grants both defence attorneys and federal prosecutors extended time to navigate complex evidentiary discovery and foreign policy considerations.
Maduro’s legal team continues to contest the legitimacy of his capture and the jurisdiction of US courts, while prosecutors assemble evidence detailing decades of state-sanctioned drug trade operations.
