In a dramatic late-night operation, Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured by elite American forces after a failed attempt to barricade themselves inside a steel-lined safe room. The audacious military raid, one of the most significant in recent history, unfolded over two hours and twenty-eight minutes on Friday night.
The Daring Operation Unfolds
President Donald Trump and his closest advisers watched the mission, codenamed Operation Absolute Resolve, in real-time from a secure room at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. After weeks of meticulous planning, Trump gave the final go-ahead at 10.46pm Eastern Standard Time on Friday (3.46am Saturday UK time).
Maduro was heavily guarded in a bunker at Fort Tiuna military base in Caracas, described by Trump as being "like a fortress." The US President revealed that Maduro raced to close a six-inch-thick steel door to a safe space but was "bum-rushed" by rapidly advancing Delta Force operators before he could secure it. Soldiers were equipped with blow torches to cut through the door if needed.
The lights of Caracas were plunged into darkness as the raid began, a move Trump attributed to "a certain expertise that we have." The extraction force had practised for months on a full-scale replica of the compound built for training.
Overwhelming Force and Precision Execution
General Dan Caine, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, hailed the joint effort involving the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Special Forces, and intelligence agencies. The operation involved more than 150 aircraft, including F-18, F-22, and F-35 fighter jets, launched from a fleet of US warships, including the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford.
Helicopters from the elite 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, known as the Night Stalkers, flew as low as 100 feet above the sea to approach Caracas. Supporting fighter jets and bombers struck five military sites around the city as a diversion.
US forces reached Maduro's compound at 1.01am EST on Saturday. After fast-roping into the heavily guarded area, they faced a "brutal" firefight. Maduro and his wife, reportedly in their pyjamas, were apprehended "in a matter of seconds." The ground assault and capture took less than 30 minutes, with the team returning to the USS Iwo Jima by 3.29am EST.
Aftermath and Indictments
The couple were swiftly flown to the USS Iwo Jima, where they were arrested by FBI agents from the Southern District of New York. An updated indictment was unsealed on Saturday, charging Maduro and his wife with narco-terrorism, cocaine smuggling, and possession of machine guns.
US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth offered a blunt summary: "He f***ed around and found out." Maduro and Flores were subsequently flown to New York and are being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center.
One US helicopter was hit by ground fire but returned safely. Two American soldiers sustained non-life-threatening gunshot wounds. Venezuela has yet to fully account for casualties, though one civilian woman is reported to have died.
President Trump, who described watching the raid as "brilliant," warned that the US was prepared for a second-wave attack but now believes it is probably unnecessary. The operation marks a seismic shift in the long-standing political crisis in Venezuela.
