Nicolas Maduro seeks immunity from US drug charges

Venezuela's ousted leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have asked a US judge to dismiss federal drug trafficking and firearms charges, arguing that they have immunity as president and first lady of a sovereign country.

Maduro and Flores have been held in a Brooklyn jail since US forces seized them in Caracas on January 3 in an operation to depose the Venezuelan leader. Both have pleaded not guilty.

A hearing on their dismissal arguments is scheduled in New York for November 7, and their trial is set for June 2027.

A court filing by Maduro's lawyer argues that no American court has presided over the criminal trial of a foreign leader recognised by their own country as the sitting head of state when charges were brought. The filing says heads of state are exempt from the criminal process of national courts other than their own.

US prosecutors allege that Maduro used state power to protect and promote illegal drug smuggling and allied with cartels to ship tons of cocaine into the United States.

Maduro has denied four counts: narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices. Flores has pleaded not guilty to three counts: cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.

Maduro said on Sunday that he was “standing firm” in a social media post from jail. He has previously told a US court he was “kidnapped” and described himself as a “prisoner of war.”

Since his capture, vice president Delcy Rodriguez has governed Venezuela as interim leader under pressure from President Donald Trump's administration.