Former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores landed in New York on Saturday hours after being captured in an audacious nighttime U.S. military operation in Caracas. They are being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn and will face federal charges related to drug trafficking and weapons.
U.S. President Donald Trump said would set the U.S. up to “run” the South American country and tap its vast oil reserves to sell to other nations.
After his arrest in Venezuela, Maduro was flown out of Caracas on a U.S. helicopter and taken aboard the USS Iwo Jima, where he appeared wearing a gray sweatsuit, protective headphones and blindfold, in a photograph shared by Trump on Truth Social.
Maduro was then transported to New York via Cuba. Upon arrival, Maduro was taken to the offices of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in Manhattan, where video footage showed him being escorted through the building by DEA agents. He has since been transferred to federal custody in Brooklyn and is expected to appear in court on drug and weapons charges, which could happen as soon as Monday. Maduro has previously denied being the leader of a drug cartel.
Trump says US will run Venezuela after capture of Maduro
President Trump said on Saturday that the United States would assume temporary control over Venezuela following Maduro’s capture in what he described as an audacious raid. “We will run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Trump said during a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. “We can’t take a chance that someone else takes over Venezuela who doesn’t have the interests of Venezuelans in mind.”
Trump said major U.S. oil companies would move into Venezuela and refurbish degraded oil infrastructure. Critics said the president’s focus on oil raised questions about the administration’s framing of the operation as a law enforcement effort aimed at reducing drug trafficking into the United States.
Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured during a nighttime operation that knocked out electricity in parts of Caracas and included strikes on military installations. The couple was transported to a U.S. Navy ship offshore before being flown to the United States. A Justice Department official confirmed Maduro landed in New York, and video showed a heavily guarded convoy arriving at the Metropolitan Detention Center.
Maduro, who was indicted on narco-terrorism conspiracy charges, is expected to make an initial appearance in Manhattan federal court. His wife also faces charges, including cocaine importation conspiracy.
Trump provided few details on how the United States would oversee Venezuela. “The people that are standing right behind me,” he said, referring to senior officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, would oversee the effort. He said he was open to deploying U.S. forces, adding, “We’re not afraid of boots on the ground.”
How the US captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro
The operation followed months of covert preparation by U.S. intelligence and military forces. For weeks, U.S. forces had been expanding their presence near Venezuela while carrying out strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats. Intelligence agencies studied Maduro’s routines in detail as special forces rehearsed an extraction plan.
The operation, called “Absolute Resolve,” unfolded under cover of darkness after Trump authorized the mission. U.S. forces entered Caracas while the capital’s lights were largely shut down. Maduro and Flores were extracted from a secure location and flown by helicopter to a U.S. warship.
Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said U.S. forces had rehearsed the operation for months. “We think, we develop, we train, we rehearse, we debrief, we rehearse again, and again,” Caine said. “Not to get it right, but to ensure we cannot get it wrong.”
Trump said U.S. forces practiced the extraction on a replica of Maduro’s residence and waited several days for optimal weather conditions. Helicopters flew low to the water and were covered by protective aircraft. The operation lasted less than 30 minutes.
At least seven explosions were heard in Caracas. Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodríguez said civilians and military personnel were killed, without providing figures. Trump said some U.S. personnel were injured but none were killed. Caine said one helicopter was struck by fire but returned safely.
What to know about the US Operation in Venezuela
Maduro landed at Stewart Air National Guard Base in New York before being flown to Manhattan and later detained in Brooklyn. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Maduro and Flores, whom she described as “alleged international narco traffickers,” had been indicted in the Southern District of New York. “They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts,” she said.
Trump said Rodríguez had been sworn in as interim president, though Rodríguez insisted Maduro remained Venezuela’s only president and said the country was ready to defend its resources. Venezuela’s defense minister said both military and civilian areas were hit during the strikes.
The Trump administration accuses Maduro of leading the Cartel de los Soles and of overseeing a narco-terrorism conspiracy dating back decades. Maduro has denied the allegations, saying Washington fabricated charges to gain control of Venezuela’s oil. “They invented an accusation that the United States knows is as false as that accusation of weapons of mass destruction,” Maduro said in a recent interview aired on state television.
Trump said U.S. oil companies would operate in Venezuela. “We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure,” he said.
Despite these assertions, Trump offered no detailed roadmap for political transition. “We’re going to run the country right,” he said. “It’s going to be run very judiciously, very fairly.”
Maduro Captured: What next for Venezuela?
Analysts say Venezuela’s future remains uncertain. Evan Ellis, a former adviser to the U.S. on Venezuelan policy, said there is “a lot of uncertainty” around what comes next. He said the Trump administration appears to be moving into a “new period of coercive negotiation” rather than an immediate democratic transition.
Ellis said the key question is whether Washington can work with Delcy Rodríguez and other figures from Maduro’s government. He added that while cooperation may be difficult, Maduro’s detention could create incentives for allies to “search for deals.”
The capture of Nicolás Maduro represents a clear tactical victory for the United States but only time will confirm its success at the strategic level, according to Ryan C. Berg, head of the Future of Venezuela Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He says while “snatch and grab” operation decapitated the regime and demonstrated U.S. military dominance, it left unanswered questions about governance, regime insiders, and the length and cost of American involvement.
The episode signals a deeper U.S. commitment to shaping Venezuela’s political future, aligned with Washington’s broader effort to reassert influence in the Western Hemisphere and curb the presence of external powers such as China and Russia.