Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores arrived in New York in a plane that touched down Saturday following a large-scale US military operation in Venezuela’s Caracas. The couple will face a trial on narco-terrorism charges.
According to a report by Reuters, a video of a plane arriving at Stewart International Airport in New York City surfaced, showing several US personnel in FBI and other gear boarding the aircraft after it landed. A person who disembarked from the plane has been identified as Maduro by various TV news networks, including CNN, Fox News and MS Now.
In a joint effort by intelligence agencies and US law enforcement, the couple was captured during a nighttime operation and whisked out of Venezuela. President Trump confirmed the indictments later that day, charging them with “drug trafficking and narco-terrorism conspiracies” in New York’s Southern District.
What Will Happen Next
Maduro arrived at a Drug Enforcement Administration facility in New York City on Saturday evening after being captured during Operation Absolute Resolve.
The Department of Justice aircraft landed at Stewart Air National Guard Base in Windsor, New York, shortly after 4:45 p.m. on Saturday, about 14 hours after Nicolás Maduro was taken into custody by a joint operation of US military in Venezuela’s capital.
The couple was led down the plane’s stairway surrounded by law enforcement officers and were taken into the facility at the military airbase. Following processing at the DEA facility, Maduro is expected to be moved to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where he will be held ahead of his initial court appearance.
Maduro and his wife are now expected to be tried for narco-terrorism and related crimes in the Southern District of New York. They are likely to be presentd before a court as early as Monday, The New York Post reported.
Maduro is facing multiple federal charges, including alleged narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, and weapons offenses involving machine guns and destructive devices, the Justice Department said earlier in the day.
Earlier Saturday, Maduro was pictured aboard the USS Iwo Jima after he was taken into custody. He appeared to be handcuffed and blindfolded.
Trump Hails US Military Operation In Venezuela
Speaking at a Florida press conference, Trump hailed the US capture of Maduro and the US operations in Venezuela. “No nation in the world could achieve what America achieved yesterday or frankly, in just a short period of time. All Venezuelan military capacities were rendered powerless as the men and women of our military, working with US law enforcement, successfully captured Maduro in the dead of night,” he said.
“It was dark, and it was deadly, but he was captured along with his wife, Cilia Flores, both of whom now face American justice. Maduro and Flores have been indicted in the Southern District of New York,” he added.
Trump promised swift accountability, declaring that Maduro and Flores “will soon face the full might of American justice and stand trial on American soil” for flooding the U.S. with drugs.
“We will make the people of Venezuela rich, independent, and safe. The illegitimate dictator Maduro was the kingpin of a vast criminal network responsible for trafficking colossal amounts of deadly and illicit drugs into the United States. Maduro and his wife will soon face the full might of American justice and stand trial on American soil. Right now, they’re on a ship that will be heading to, ultimately, New York. And then a decision will be made, I assume, between New York and Miami or Florida.”
Authorities will soon decide if the trial unfolds in New York or Florida as Maduro’s era of alleged narco-terrorism faces its reckoning.
