Ousted Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro’s narcoterrorism trial will start on June 1, 2027, a New York judge ruled Wednesday.

US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein set the trial date for the fallen leader, 63, and his wife, Cilia Flores, 69, at the couple’s third court appearance since US Special Forces captured them in a stunning late-night January raid at their heavily fortified Caracas compound.

Maduro and his wife are charged with working with drug cartels to ship thousands of tons of cocaine into the US for more than 20 years, between 1999 and 2025.

Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores appeared in NYC court Wednesday. REUTERS Nicolas Maduro in handcuffs after landing at a Manhattan helipad, escorted by heavily armed federal agents, on Jan. 5. GC Images Maduro and his wife are charged with working with drug cartels to ship thousands of tons of cocaine into the US for more than 20 years. Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post

Maduro, who appeared slimmed down while sporting a pair of glasses in jail garb at the court appearance Wednesday, is charged with narcoterrorism for allegedly working with “terror” groups, and both are separately charged with possessing machine guns.

However, the deposed despot is expected to claim that his case should be tossed because of international law saying sitting heads of state cannot be prosecuted by a foreign government’s courts, a Justice Department source previously told The Post.

Washington has argued that Maduro was never the country’s legitimate leader, but officials fear his lawyers could counter by claiming the US tacitly recognized the Maduro regime by engaging with his vice president, Delcy Rodriguez.

A motorcade carrying Maduro and his wife to their hearing at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan US Courthouse in Manhattan on July 22, 2026. REUTERS Anti-Maduro demonstrators outside of Manhattan federal court during the hearing. Gregory P. Mango for NY Post Pro-Maduro protesters calling on the former dictator to be freed from American jail outside the hearing on July 22, 2026. John Angelillo/UPI/Shutterstock

Maduro’s motion to toss the case based on immunity grounds is due September 2, with the government’s response due a month later, the judge ruled Wednesday.

The toppled leader and his wife have been held at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center since their capture. They have both pleaded not guilty.