Securing Timely Opportunities for Payment and Maximizing Awards for Detaining Unlawful Regime Officials Act of 2025 or the STOP MADURO Act
This bill authorizes the Department of State to pay a reward of up to $100 million for certain information directly leading to the arrest and conviction of Nicolas Maduro Moros.
For example, under the bill, the State Department may pay such a reward to one or more individuals who furnish information directly leading to Maduro's arrest and conviction in any country for specified narcotics-related offenses.
The bill also requires that any such payment come solely from the liquidation of assets that the U.S. President or the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control has withheld pursuant to specified laws and executive orders from Maduro, officials of the Maduro regime, and their co-conspirators.
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 268 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 268
To increase the maximum reward amount for information leading to the
arrest and conviction of Nicolas Maduro Moros to $100,000,000, which
shall be paid out by the Federal Government from all assets being
withheld from Nicolas Maduro Moros, officials of the Maduro regime and
their co-conspirators.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 9, 2025
Mr. Diaz-Balart (for himself, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Mr. Smith of New
Jersey, Mr. Gimenez, Ms. Salazar, and Mr. Soto) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To increase the maximum reward amount for information leading to the
arrest and conviction of Nicolas Maduro Moros to $100,000,000, which
shall be paid out by the Federal Government from all assets being
withheld from Nicolas Maduro Moros, officials of the Maduro regime and
their co-conspirators.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLES.
This Act may be cited as the ``Securing Timely Opportunities for
Payment and Maximizing Awards for Detaining Unlawful Regime Officials
Act of 2025'' or the ``STOP MADURO Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) In 2020, the Trump administration charged Venezuela
regime leader Nicolas Maduro Moros, along with other regime
officials with--
(A) participating in a narco-terrorism conspiracy,
which carries a 20-year mandatory minimum sentence and
a maximum sentence of life in prison;
(B) conspiring to import cocaine into the United
States, which carries a 10-year mandatory minimum
sentence and a maximum sentence of life in prison;
(C) using and carrying machine guns and destructive
devices during, and in relation to, and possessing
machine guns and destructive devices in furtherance of,
the narco-terrorism and cocaine-importation
conspiracies, which carries a 30-year mandatory minimum
sentence and a maximum sentence of life in prison; and
(D) conspiring to use and carry machine guns and
destructive devices during, and in relation to, and to
possess machine guns and destructive devices in
furtherance of, the narco-terrorism and cocaine-
importation conspiracies, which carries a maximum
sentence of life in prison.
(2) On March 26, 2020, United States Attorney Geoffrey S.
Berman of the Southern District of New York stated in a press
release, ``Today we announce criminal charges against Nicolas
Maduro for running, together with his top lieutenants, a narco-
terrorism partnership with the FARC for the past twenty years.
The scope and magnitude of the drug trafficking alleged was
made possible only because Maduro and others corrupted the
institutions of Venezuela and provided political and military
protection for the rampant narco-terrorism crimes described in
our charges. As alleged, Maduro and the other defendants
expressly intended to flood the United States with cocaine in
order to undermine the health and wellbeing of our nation.
Maduro very deliberately deployed cocaine as a weapon.''.
(3) The press release included a statement from United
States Attorney Ariana Fajardo Orshan of the Southern District
of Florida, who stated, ``In the last couple of years, the US
Attorney's Office in South Florida and its federal law
enforcement partners have united to bring dozens of criminal
charges against high-level regime officials and co-conspirators
resulting in seizures of approximately $450 million dollars.''.
SEC. 3. INCREASING THE MAXIMUM REWARD AMOUNT FOR INFORMATION LEADING TO
THE ARREST AND CONVICTION OF NICOLAS MADURO MOROS THROUGH
THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE REWARDS PROGRAM.
(a) Authorization.--Notwithstanding section 36(e)(1) of the State
Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2708(e)(1)), the
Secretary of State may pay, to one or more individuals who furnish
information described in section 36(b) of such Act that directly leads
to the arrest and conviction of Nicolas Maduro Moros, a reward of up to
$100,000,000.
(b) Source of Funds.--The payment authorized under subsection (a)
shall be derived exclusively from the liquidation of assets being
withheld from Nicolas Maduro Moros, officials of the Maduro regime, and
their co-conspirators by the President or by the Office of Foreign
Assets Control of the Department of the Treasury pursuant to--
(1) the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (21
U.S.C. 1901 et seq.);
(2) section 5 of the Venezuela Defense of Human Rights and
Civil Society Act of 2014 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note);
(3) Executive Order 13692 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to
blocking of property and suspending entry of certain persons
contributing to the situation in Venezuela);
(4) Executive Order 13850 (relating to blocking property of
additional persons contributing to the situation in Venezuela);
(5) Executive Order 13884 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to
blocking property of the Government of Venezuela); or
(6) any other sanctions provision.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
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