United States has sanctioned four individuals and six entities for supporting President Nicolas Maduro’s “corrupt and illegitimate regime” in Venezuela.
The U.S. maintains that Maduro leads Cartel de los Soles, a Foreign Terrorist Organization, flouts the will of his people, and devastates the country’s economy along with cronies.
The new sanctions target three of Maduro’s nephews, two of whom are convicted narco-traffickers, the State Department indicated in a readout issued on Thursday.
The duo were, in October 2022, granted clemency by the Biden administration as part of a prisoner exchange involving seven Americans held in Venezuela.
Noting that both men have continued drug activities, the U.S. stressed its determination to deny financial lifelines to the Maduro government, which he uses to “oppress” Venezuelans.
The latest action by Washington also targets Venezuela’s oil sector, including a businessman and six shipping companies, and identifies six vessels as blocked property.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs has placed a bounty on Francisco Manuel Bermúdez Cagua (“Churrón”), a leader of Los Choneros in Ecuador.
The Department of State agency announced a reward offer under the Narcotics Rewards Program (NRP) of up to $5 million for information leading to his arrest and/or conviction.
Churrón is the first Los Choneros member to appear on the NRP target list. The authorities accuse him of taking part in making drug and weapons trafficking decisions for the ring.
Cagua and fellow cartel members Darío Javier Peñafiel Nieto (“Topo”) and José Adolfo Macías Villamar (“Fito”) face drug and weapons charges in New York. Topo and Fito are in custody; Churrón remains a fugitive.
Regarded as one of Ecuador’s most violent criminal organizations, with links to the Sinaloa Cartel, Los Choneros controls major cocaine trafficking routes through Ecuador.
In January 2024, Ecuador designated the mob as a terrorist organization. In September 2025, Secretary of State Marco Rubio classified it as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and Specially Designated Global Terrorists.
This week, a San Diego federal court sentenced a Sinaloa Cartel kingpin’s wife, Claudia Patricia Alvarez Hernandez, to 14 years in prison for her participation in drug trafficking and money laundering offenses.
Prosecutors said that after her husband’s arrest, 38-year-old Claudia assumed a supervisory role within the syndicate and made efforts to secure the organization’s illegal assets.
US targets Maduro’s nephews, offers $5 million for Ecuador’s Churrón
