The United States sent undercover DEA agents to Venezuela to link Maduro's entourage with drug trafficking. The operation, carried out during Trump's mandate outside international law, sought to deceive two Chavista leaders through an informant investigated for money laundering.

The mission was part of the so-called Operation Money Badger (in reference to a type of bait), launched at a time of maximum tension between Washington and Caracas. Negotiations between both countries to relax sanctions in exchange for guarantees for democratic elections scheduled for this year are about to founder.