By Mark Vargas, Editor-in-Chief & Opinion Contributor
In September 2023, Nicolas Maduro’s regime staged what it claimed was a decisive military raid on Venezuela’s infamous Tocoron prison. Cameras rolled and soldiers marched in.
The message was meant to project strength and control. But it was all a lie.
The prison – long run by the violent Tren de Aragua gang – had already been cleared of its most dangerous leaders. They were tipped off in advance, allowed to flee with weapons, and given safe passage before government forces arrived.
The raid was political theater designed to fool foreign observers while protecting criminals loyal to the regime.
Tren de Aragua is not a petty gang – it is a transnational criminal organization that specializes in assassinations, extortion, and human trafficking – especially the sexual exploitation of migrant women forced into prostitution through violence and debt bondage.
After Tocoron, the gang did not collapse. It spread.
As Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolas Maduro did not merely tolerate organized crime – he oversaw it.
The U.S. government has documented that Maduro and senior officials ran a narco-state through the Cartel de los Soles, a system of corruption embedded in the military and political elite that exists to profit from drug trafficking and protect criminal allies.
According to a federal indictment, that network pumped thousands of tons of cocaine into the United States over more than two decades – and the human cost has been staggering.
Hundreds of thousands of American lives have been lost to drug overdoses fueled by this pipeline. Families destroyed and communities hollowed out.
Tren de Aragua was one of the Cartel de los Soles’ criminal partners. U.S. authorities say the gang received coordination, protection, and freedom of movement. No Venezuelan general acts without Maduro’s approval. No prison raid happens by mistake. And no gang leadership escapes without authorization.
Under the Biden administration’s open border policies, that danger reached American soil. As Venezuelan migration surged, criminal elements exploited the chaos.
Tren de Aragua cells have now been tied to crimes in sixteen states across the country, including New York, Texas, Florida, Georgia, and Illinois – often preying on fellow migrants with fear, violence, and sexual exploitation.
The global reaction to Maduro’s capture told Americans everything they needed to know. Regimes openly hostile to the United States rushed to his defense.
China condemned the operation as a violation of international law and demanded Maduro’s release. Russia called it armed aggression and declared solidarity with Venezuela. Iran warned of global instability and North Korea denounced the arrest outright.
These are America’s adversaries. And they all lined up behind Maduro because he was one of their own – an anti-American strongman who embraced our enemies while exporting drugs, violence, and criminal gangs that flooded U.S. communities and killed hundreds of thousands of Americans.
Public sentiment in the United States reflects a clear demand for accountability. According to reporting cited by CNN, an overwhelming share of Americans believe Maduro should be put on trial for drug trafficking, with roughly 50 percent saying they support his prosecution and only 14 percent opposing it – including a majority of Democrats who recognize the toll his criminal enterprise has taken on our communities.
This is not a fringe position – it is a reflection of Americans who have watched the drug crisis devastate families across party lines and want justice for the carnage that flowed north from Maduro’s narco-state.
President Donald Trump understood what was at stake. His America First leadership recognized that narco-dictators exporting drugs, gangs, and death are not foreign problems – they are direct threats to American lives.
Removing Maduro was not about ideology. It was about saving American lives.
And if you do not think this was about saving American lives, ask the mothers and fathers in Ohio, Texas, Illinois, and Georgia who have had to bury their child because of a drug-related death.
But thanks to President Trump, America is safer. And because of that leadership, fewer moms and dads will be forced to bury their children.
