In a clinically decisive military operation in Venezuela in the early hours of Saturday morning, US special forces quickly disabled communications in the capital, Caracas, and in the important military areas of Miranda and La Guaira, before entering the highly guarded compound in which President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were sleeping.
The couple was apprehended before they could barricade themselves in a steel safe room. They were then taken by helicopter to a nearby US military vessel, before being transported by plane to New York City, where they will appear before a judge on charges relating to drug smuggling, according to an indictment issued by the US Department of Justice.
The indictment alleges that since 1999, Maduro and his associates have worked with international drug trafficking networks, including Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel and Los Zetas, traffickers in Colombia, and Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang, to ship narcotics to the United States. It also states that military elites enriched themselves by providing protection and logistical support to the smugglers.
Pressure to prosecution
According to the charges, Maduro routinely arranged diplomatic passports for leading drug traffickers while he was foreign minister from 2006-08, letting them move drug sale proceeds from Mexico to Venezuela on private aircraft under diplomatic cover. US investigators say Maduro and Flores helped traffic cocaine that had previously been seized by Venezuelan authorities, moving it through special state-backed groups.
It also claims that they ordered kidnappings, beatings, and killings of those who refused to pay for the drugs or sought to disrupt their operations. These allegations add to an earlier set of charges brought against Maduro and several of his aides in March 2020 during US President Donald Trump’s first term.
Maduro denied the accusations, and the US increased pressure on him, including by offering a large reward for any assistance leading to his capture. Venezuela’s Cartel de los Soles (Cartel of the Suns) was designated a terrorist organisation, while the International Criminal Court (ICC) began investigating allegations that Venezuelan authorities were guilty of torture, sexual violence, and arbitrary arrests.
When the sword finally fell after weeks of military build-up off the Venezuelan coast, power to Caracas was cut as rapid and synchronised airstrikes targeted La Carlota Air Base and the army command at Fort Tiuna. A few hours later, Trump announced on social media that Maduro and his wife had been detained and exfiltrated from the country.
Nicolas Maduro on board the USS Iwo Jima. pic.twitter.com/omF2UpDJhA
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 3, 2026
US intelligence agencies believe Flores is the financial mastermind who manages the overseas accounts for Cartel de los Soles—a network that includes military figures. By insisting that the operation was carried out with US law enforcement under a Justice Department narcoterrorism warrant, Trump said no formal Congressional mandate was required. Several lawmakers disagree, however, saying this was an ‘act of war’.
Clearing the way for oil
Unlike the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, which included large numbers of ground forces, the Caracas operation was limited to strikes on command and control sites and the presidential compound. It was presented as the culmination of a four-month US campaign that has included the bombing of small boats accused of smuggling, and latterly, the seizure of oil tankers transporting Venezuelan oil, after the US imposed a blockade. A day before the strikes, Maduro appeared on Venezuelan TV, accusing Washington of seeking to steal his country’s oil.
Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said the operation was conducted under the cover of darkness and included nearly 150 aircraft launched from 20 air bases across the Western Hemisphere, some carrying members of a special recovery force that included law enforcement officers. These aircraft flew low over the water, protected by other aircraft, drones, and bombers, which disabled Venezuelan air defences, clearing a corridor for the helicopters heading to Maduro.
It also clears the way for the US to access the highly prized 55,000 sq. km. The Orinoco Belt, which crosses central Venezuela along the eastern section of the Orinoco River, is rich in extra-heavy crude oil. The belt is widely assumed to be the largest single hydrocarbon accumulation in the world, with more than one trillion barrels of oil, more than 300 billion barrels of which are thought to be recoverable.
Oil extraction in Venezuela peaked at around 3.5 million barrels per day (bpd) in the 1970s but has fallen steadily over the years, averaging only around 1.1 million bpd last year. Reasons cited include mismanagement and a lack of investment in the country’s oil infrastructure. US oil giants, including ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, were active in the country for years, until the oil industry was nationalised in the 2000s by Maduro’s popular socialist predecessor, Hugo Chávez.
