US forces seize Venezuela's Maduro, fly him to New York to face charges

On Saturday, the United States (US) captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and took him to New York to face criminal charges. American special operations forces seized  Maduro with the help of a CIA source within the Venezuelan government, sources said. 

Early Saturday, at around 2 am, US forces struck multiple locations in northern Venezuela, including in Caracas, to suppress air defences and clear path for the US choppers to reach Maduro.  

Fuerte Tiuna, a military base, where Maduro was suspected to be located, was hit, along with the La Carlota Airport in Caracas. At least 40 people including civilians were killed in the attack. 

 

Forces arrived at Maduro’s compound at 2:01 a.m. local time and were back “over the water” at 4:29 a.m. “with indicted persons on board.” 

President Trump said that no American troops had been killed and that no military equipment had been lost during the operation. 

  Trump said that  Maduro and Flores had been taken to the USS Iwo Jima, which took him to the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. 

The FBI then brought them to Stewart Air National Guard Base, north of New York City. 

At Manhattan, he was driven to the US Drug Enforcement Administration’s NYC headquarters. Maduro was then flown by helicopter to Brooklyn and driven to the Metropolitan Detention Center. 

Maduro faces a new indictment in the Southern District of New York that charges him with narco-terrorism.