Captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro faces New York court

Image source, Reuters

Prosecutors allege that Maduro, his wife and son and their accomplices engaged in a cocaine-trafficking conspiracy, beginning in 1999, and partnered with cartels designated as terrorist groups.

Altogether, the six people face four counts, including engaging in a narco-conspiracy with designated terrorist groups, conspiring to traffic cocaine into the US, and possessing and using illegal weapons - primarily machine guns - to carry out the alleged conspiracy.

Prosecutors allege the accused provided "law enforcement cover and logistical support" for drug shipments through Venezuela, knowing they were headed for the US.

Before becoming president, the US government says, Maduro provided passports to drug traffickers and "facilitated diplomatic cover for planes used by money launderers to repatriate drug proceeds from Mexico to Venezuela".

After taking office in 2013, he allegedly allowed the drug trade to "flourish for his own benefit, for the benefit of members of his ruling regime, and for the benefit of his family members".

Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores have pleaded not guilty.