In this article:
CIA and Delta Force capture Maduro
US Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed on Jan. 3, 2026 that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was seized along with his wife, Cilia Flores will be brought to the US to stand trial hours after President Donald Trump announced Maduro’s capture as a result of a dramatic commando operation in Caracas, carried out amid widespread US airstrikes on the capital.
Bondi’s statement indicated that an updated indictment against Maduro has now been filed after he was first indicted in 2020 in federal court in New York on drug trafficking charges along with other senior figures in his government. According to Ynetnews, she added that the Southern District of New York charged him with conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, weapons possession and conspiracy to possess firearms and machine guns. Bondi said Flores will also face trial, though she did not specify the charges against her.
Strikes on targets in Venezuela
According to CNN, a source familiar with the matter said that CIA identified Maduro’s location several days ago and then Trump approved the operation. The president authorized the agency months earlier to conduct covert operations in Venezuela. Commandos of Delta Force seized. Delta Force is the elite US unit that also carried out the 2019 raid that killed Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Residents of Caracas spotted Chinook and Black Hawk helicopters flying overhead. As reported by Militarnyi.com, about ten helicopters were spotted in the sky heading toward the capital Caracas after ten explosions were reported in Caracas.
Strikes on targets in Venezuela, mainly military targets (including Generalissimo Francisco de Miranda airbase, where army aviation is based in Caracas), were ordered by Trump, CBS News senior White House reporter Jennifer Jacobs reported.
One helicopter hit
In November 2025, Trump ordered the complete closure of the airspace over and around Venezuela. Furthermore, Washington deployed both CV-22 Osprey tiltrotors and MC-130J Commando II multimission combat transport/special operations tanker closer to Venezuela in December.
Trump told Fox News some Americans were injured when a helicopter was hit during the meticulously planned operation.
“That we had nobody killed was amazing. I think we had nobody killed, I have to say, because a couple of guys were hit, but they came back and they’re supposed to be in pretty good shape,” Trump said.
He added that there were “a few injuries” without further elaborating.
The president claimed that no aircraft were lost, but said one helicopter was hit “pretty hard” during the raid.
The photo of Maduro featured in this article was posted on social media with the caption “It’s time to move to New York.”
