Inside Venezuela’s Maduro capture with CIA agents, drones and blowtorches | World | News
Daring US military operation to capture Nicolás Maduro Venezuelan It came after an order was placed at 22:46 ET on Friday (03:46 BST on Saturday). The US President wished the participants “Good luck and God willing” before 150 planes from 20 bases took to the skies.
WE Special Forces personnel and FBI agents traveled in helicopters 100 feet above the Caribbean Sea as fighter jets, bombers and drones took off. When they arrived in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, the military aircraft destroyed the air defense systems. Although the helicopters came under fire, they reached their targets with a single hit but were still in the air.
Mr. Trump, who watched live coverage of the operation from Mar-a-Lago, said U.S. forces were faced with numerous gunshots when they arrived but managed to enter Maduro’s compound.
US President, Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores caught while trying to escape to a steel-reinforced safe room.
He said rehearsals before the operation included blowing up the steel door, but ultimately this was not necessary. The soldiers also carried blowtorches to enter the safe room, but these were not needed.
Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said drones and warplanes provided overhead cover and “suppressive fire” as soldiers exited the facility with Maduro.
Mr. Caine said he saw “a lot of self-defense fighting” as troops began to retreat. Mr. Trump said no U.S. soldiers were killed in the line of duty, but a few were injured.
The attack itself lasted less than 30 minutes. As at least seven explosions took to the streets, others reported what they saw and heard on social media.
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez said some civilians and military members were killed, but did not give a number.
US forces were returning to bases by 03.29 ET (08.29 BST) on Saturday, according to Mr Caine. The US President confirmed the operation on the Truth Social platform at 4.21am ET (9.21am BST).
According to a source cited by a US media outlet, Maduro’s routines and places he visited were monitored by the CIA in Venezuela for months. axios.
The work began in August, the source said, when Mr. Trump told Fox News on Saturday that U.S. Special Forces had conducted the operation on a replica of Maduro’s “fortress.”
A plane carrying the deposed leader touched down at an airport in the northern suburbs of New York City at around 4.30pm ET (21.30 BST) on Saturday.
maduro taken off the jetHe carefully walks down a set of steps before being guided across the asphalt surrounded by federal agents. Several agents filmed him on their phones as he walked by.
He then flew to Manhattan by helicopter; where a convoy of law enforcement vehicles, including an armored vehicle, was waiting to take him to a nearby U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) office.
In the video shared on social media by a White House account, Maduro was seen smiling as two DEA agents held his arms and escorted him to the office.
He was expected to be detained while awaiting trial at a federal prison in Brooklyn. U.S. officials did not immediately confirm that Maduro was in prison, but the same convoy that brought him from the helipad to the DEA office was seen arriving at the detention center Saturday evening.
U.S. Attorney Pam Bondi said in X that Maduro was indicted on charges of narco-terrorism conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to import cocaine.
Mr Trump said his plan was to use the leadership vacuum in Venezuela to “fix” the country’s oil infrastructure and sell “massive quantities” of fossil fuel to other countries.
Shortly before speaking to the media, a post on Truth Social published a photo showing the autocratic leader blindfolded aboard the US battleship Iwo Jima, heading for New York.
Mr Trump insisted on Saturday that the US Government would rule the South American country at least temporarily, and was already doing so.
Venezuelan state television continued to broadcast pro-Maduro propaganda and broadcast live footage of supporters taking to the streets in Caracas in protest.
