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What We Know About the U.S. Operation That Captured Venezuela’s Maduro

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What We Know About the U.S. Operation That Captured Venezuela’s Maduro

U.S. special operations forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, during an overnight raid on Jan. 3 and flew them out of the country to face criminal charges in the United States.

Announcing the operation on Saturday via his Truth Social platform, U.S. President Donald Trump said American forces had carried out a “large-scale strike” against Venezuela in coordination with U.S. law enforcement, resulting in the capture of Maduro and the first lady.

Here is what is known so far.

Capture at Fort Tiuna

According to Nahum Fernández, a senior leader of Maduro’s ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela, Maduro and his wife were at their residence inside the Fort Tiuna military complex in Caracas when the operation took place.

“That’s where they bombed, and that’s where what we can call the kidnapping of the president and the first lady occurred,” Fernández told The Associated Press.

Witnesses reported low-flying aircraft and explosions at Fort Tiuna, as well as at several locations along Venezuela’s northern coast, as the operation unfolded.

In an interview with Fox News shortly after the raid, Trump said the special operations forces had conducted extensive rehearsals and even built a full-scale replica of the target location.

“He was in a house that was more like a fortress,” Trump said, describing steel doors and a reinforced safe room. “He tried to get into it, but the operation moved so fast that he never made it. We were prepared.”

Trump declined to name the specific units involved.

Massive Air and Intelligence Support

Trump described the mission as “extremely complex,” involving a large number of aircraft, helicopters, and fighter jets to cover every possible scenario.

At a later press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Trump said Venezuelan forces were on high alert as the operation began, but U.S. troops quickly overwhelmed and neutralized their defenses.

Footage shared by Trump on Truth Social appeared to show military helicopters approaching amid explosions and smoke.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said more than 150 aircraft were launched from bases across the Western Hemisphere. The operation involved F-22 and F-35 stealth fighters, F/A-18 Super Hornets, B-1 bombers, EA-18G electronic warfare aircraft, drones, and other support planes.

Caine added that U.S. Space Force capabilities were used, alongside intelligence support from the CIA, NSA, and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

Pressure Campaign Before the Raid

Maduro was indicted by the U.S. government in March 2020 on charges of leading a narcotics trafficking network linked to Colombia’s FARC guerrillas.

In recent months, U.S. forces had increased their presence around Venezuela under Operation Southern Spear, which included dozens of strikes on suspected drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.

In late December 2025, Trump hinted at strikes on land-based targets, later confirming that one attack hit a facility used to load drug boats. He also ordered U.S. forces to help enforce a blockade on oil tankers traveling to and from Venezuela.

“The illegitimate Maduro regime is using stolen oil to finance drug terrorism, human trafficking, murder, and kidnapping,” Trump said in a Dec. 16 Truth Social post, declaring the Venezuelan regime a foreign terrorist organization and ordering a total blockade of sanctioned oil shipments.

Final Warning Before Capture

Vice President JD Vance said Trump had spoken directly with Maduro before the Jan. 3 operation and offered him multiple chances to step down.

“The president was very clear: the drug trafficking must stop, and the stolen oil must be returned to the United States,” Vance wrote on X. “Maduro is the latest person to learn that President Trump means what he says.”

Vance praised the U.S. special operators for executing what he called an “impressive operation.”

Under Venezuela’s constitution, Vice President Delcy Rodríguez would assume leadership in Maduro’s absence, though it remains unclear whether that transition has occurred. Following the U.S. strike, Rodríguez demanded proof that Maduro and his wife are alive.

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