President Donald Trump announced early Saturday morning that Venezuela’s socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro has been captured and flown out of the country following what he described as a joint U.S. military and law enforcement operation.
“The United States of America has successfully carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country,” Trump said in a Truth Social post at 4:21 a.m. Eastern Time.
Trump added that the mission was conducted in coordination with U.S. law enforcement and said a press conference will be held at 11 a.m. Eastern Time to provide additional details.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 3, 2026
CBS News reported that Maduro was captured by Delta Force, the U.S. military’s elite special missions unit.
As of this report, no further information has been released regarding the raid or any potential U.S. casualties.
The announcement followed reports of multiple strikes early Saturday morning targeting Venezuelan military installations, airbases, ports, and other critical infrastructure.
U.S. helicopters were seen over Caracas shortly after the first strikes were reported around 1:50 a.m. Eastern Time, and power and communications outages were reported in several areas.
The U.S. government has long alleged that Maduro is deeply tied to international narcotics operations and criminal networks used to bolster his regime.
“Maduro uses foreign terrorist organizations like [Tren de Aragua], Sinaloa, and Cartel of the Suns to bring deadly drugs and violence into our country,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in an August video statement.
Bondi said the Drug Enforcement Agency has seized 30 tons of cocaine linked to Maduro and his associates, including “nearly seven tons linked to Maduro himself, which represents a primary source of income for the deadly cartels based in Venezuela and Mexico.”
She further stated that narcotics tied to Maduro’s trafficking networks are often laced with fentanyl, resulting in “the loss and destruction of countless American lives.”
In March 2020, federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York charged Maduro with offenses including narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.
At the time, the Trump Administration offered a $15 million reward for information leading to his capture.
Maduro’s regime has also been linked to the infiltration of the violent Tren de Aragua gang into the United States.
Trump formally designated the organization a terrorist group in February, citing its ties to Venezuelan security services and support from Maduro’s government.
As of now, the status of control inside Venezuela remains unclear, and it is unknown whether additional senior officials were removed from the country along with Maduro.
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