“I AM DESTITUTE AND THE VENEZUELAN GOVERNMENT SHOULD FOOT THE BILL FOR MY LEGAL DEFENSE”!!! BELIEVE IT OR NOT, PROSECUTORS SAY OUSTED DICTATOR NICOLAS MADURO CONSPIRED WITH DRUG CARTELS TO SHIP THOUSANDS OF TONS OF COCAINE TO THE US WHILE ACCUMULATING HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS IN SEIZED ASSETS… AND HE IS NOW CONFINED IN A BROOKLYN JAIL SPORTING A FORTY-DOLLAR COMMISSARY TIMEPIECE AWAITING TRIAL.
Ousted Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro has posed for a jailhouse photograph from federal custody.
The image shows the former leader flashing a peace sign.
Visible on his wrist was what appeared to be a Casio G-Shock watch.
The slimmed-down socialist was photographed inside Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center.
Bureau of Prisons records show that the timepiece is available from the facility’s commissary for $40.30.
The scene marks a sharp shift from the $40,000 luxury Swiss timepieces Maduro sported while in power.
Maduro had long been accustomed to wearing far more elegant and expensive watches.
In December 2024, he was photographed wearing a limited-edition $85,000 Hublot watch, according to Watches of Espionage.
He was also seen wearing a different $40,000 watch from the Swiss atelier earlier that same year during a summit.
The website reported that the $40,000 summit piece was an alleged gift from legendary Argentinian soccer star and supporter Diego Maradona.
While Maduro was occasionally seen wearing down-market timepieces, including Citizens, his taste for the extravagant continued to get the better of him.
Critics of the regime have long said he ran a system of patronage that allowed elites to live the high life.
Under that system, the quality of living in Venezuela plummeted.
National inflation soared during the same period.
Then came the nighttime raid that stripped him of power.
On January 3, United States Special Forces moved on his heavily guarded home in Caracas.
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The operation was ordered by President Trump.
Commandos captured Maduro alongside his wife, Cilia Flores.
Both were brought to New York following their apprehension.
Federal authorities indicted the couple on charges of using their leadership positions to work with drug cartels.
The indictment alleges that they worked to ship thousands of tons of cocaine into the United States between 1999 and 2025.
They have both pleaded not guilty.
Shortly after his arrest, Maduro claimed he was destitute.
He insisted that the Venezuelan government should foot the bill for his legal defense.
But the Trump administration said last year that it had seized some $700 million from the ex-dictator.
The seized property included mansions, cars, planes and jewelry.
Among the confiscated properties were a mansion in the Dominican Republic and a horse farm.
Authorities also seized a luxury property in Florida.
Last month, prosecutors with the Manhattan US Attorney’s Office and Maduro’s defense lawyers confirmed his trial schedule.
His trial will start in June 2027.
And until then, the former president remains in detention in Brooklyn.
He has the commissary timepiece.
He has the June 2027 court date.
The charges are allegations and have not been proven in court.
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