Former lawmaker and ally of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro was charged in New York City for the alleged conspiracy of flooding cocaine in the U.S., according to a recently published article.

Venezuela President Maduro and Other Officials Was Charged by the Federal Prosecutors 

It was already announced by the federal prosecutors in New York last March the charges filed against Maduro and other government officials. The charges filed against them include narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation, and weapons importation conspiracy. 

In a published article, Maduro and 14 other officials were allegedly running a vast organized criminal group or cartel known as Cartel de Los Soles for 20 years and for using the resources of the state to fuel the operation of the cartel.

Geoffrey Berman, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said: "Maduro and the other defendants expressly intended to flood the United States with cocaine in order to undermine the health and well-being of our nation. Maduro very deliberatively used cocaine as a weapon."

Following this, a bounty of $15 million for information that will help for Maduro's arrest and $10 million for the arrest of four other senior officials is now offered by the State Department as announced by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.  

Former Lawmaker and Ally of Pres. Maduro Was Charged in New York

Adel El Zabayar, of Syrian descent, was a former lawmaker and ally of the disputed Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro. He was a former member of the Venezuelan National Assembly. Now, El Zabayar will be facing charges in the New York City Federal Court based on a recent published press relase from the DEA.  

Charges filed against him include cocaine trafficking and coordination and other related weapons offenses that involve the use and illegal possession of machine guns and destructive devices to support cartels, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, and the terror groups of Hezbollah and Hamas.

According to the federal prosecutors, El Zabayar sought support from FARC and the terror groups pf Hezbollah and Hamas to help him flood the U.S. with cocaine. Additionally, the federal prosecutors firmly believed that Maduro has helped the cartels managed and lead flooding the U.S. with illegal drugs and cocaine. 

Meanwhile, DEA acting Administrator Timothy J. Shea said in a press release that: "Today's charges against Adel El Zabayar for trading arms for cocaine, and recruiting extremists, further demonstrates the corruption inside the Maduro regime."

Geoffrey Berman, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, also added in the press release: "We further allege today, for the first time, that the Cártel de Los Soles sought to recruit terrorists from Hizballah and Hamas to assist in planning and carrying out attacks on the U.S., and that El Zabayar was instrumental as a go-between."

A photo was also used as a document provided in the court showing the relationship El Zabayar and two armed men of Bashar al-Assad somewhere in 2013. Additionally, it was also found out that El Zabayar was one of the several cartel members who received planeload military weaponry from Lebanon. There is no bounty announced yet for the arrest of El Zabayar. 

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