US to charge Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro with drug trafficking

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro will be hit with drug-trafficking charges by US federal prosecutors on Thursday, according to a report.

The charges against Maduro, an adversary of President Trump, were expected to be unveiled at a livestreamed press conference by Attorney General William Barr and Geoffrey Berman, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York, the New York Times first reported.

In addition to the drug-trafficking charges, the US was expected to list the country as a state sponsor of terrorism, CNN reported, citing sources familiar with the move.

The country will join four other nations with that designation, including Iran and North Korea, which have “repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism,” according to the report.