🔗 Share this article

American officials state their military operation to capture Venezuela's president involved many weeks of planning, however the moment Donald Trump gave the command to launch, "Operation Absolute Resolve" was completed in roughly 150 minutes.

The unexpected early-morning attack on Saturday marked a never-before-seen event in contemporary international relations and led directly to the arrest of Nicolás Maduro and his spouse, Cilia Flores.

Captured by troops belonging to an elite American military force while they attempted to escape into a heavily secured panic room, the couple are currently being held at a holding facility in New York and face narco-terrorism indictments.

A Dawn Assault against the Military Complex

With daybreak that morning, the scale of the armed intervention in Caracas, Venezuela's primary city, was evident.

Photographs of the vast military base, a huge military complex where senior leadership live, reveal destroyed buildings as well as burned, smouldering cars.

It was at this compound where Maduro and his wife were apprehended, a senior political figure a party official reported.

Hours Before - The President Gives the Order

"Operation Absolute Resolve" commenced amid reports of blasts around 2 AM in Caracas (6:00 Greenwich Mean Time).

American forces cut power to the city, Trump later described, describing it as pitch black and dangerous.

The aim was to disable the nation's air defences and clear the path for American assault helicopters to reach Fuerte Tiuna.

Our evaluation was that we successfully kept completely the element of surprise", the top general commented.

Targeted sites encompassed the base, a port and an airport. Pictures depict the complex on fire, with massive fires visible for miles.

Residents reported the way American choppers flew low above the city, heading for the military base.

A number of the aircraft were shot at, however were still able to fly, officials stated.

There was significant weapons fire," the President added.

The Rapid Ground Assault

After landing, troops from an elite special operations unit, sprang into action.

They entered to the compound at 02:01 Caracas time, and the Maduros "gave up" without a struggle, according to accounts.

But, more details were provided. The Maduros tried to escape into a safe place, described as a heavily fortified bunker.

The secure room is all steel, and he wasn't able to get to the door because our guys were too quick.

"It was an extremely heavy door, a massive door," the President told reporters. He reached the entrance. He could not to close it."

However, even assuming they had managed to enter the bunker, troops could have breached it in about "under a minute."

From the Capital to New York City

Now in US custody, the couple were moved approximately 3,400 kilometers, to New York City.

They were flown from the capital by helicopter, and transferred to the USS Iwo Jima, a naval vessel stationed in the Caribbean. The operation was back in international waters before 4:30 AM.

Aboard the vessel that one of the defining pictures from the entire mission was captured - the president in handcuffs, wearing ear protectors and darkened eyewear resembling opaque glasses.

After leaving the ship, his initial stop was to the US Navy base at Guantánamo Bay.

They then traveled via official aircraft to Stewart Air National Guard Base in New York, before a final helicopter transfer into New York City.

Confronting The Legal System on American Soil

On Saturday, a video was released showing Maduro inside the federal drug agency's headquarters in New York.

The couple are presently detained in a detention centre in the city.

They face charges including planning narco-terrorism and import cocaine, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to acquire such weapons and bombs to use against America.

"They will soon face the complete force of American justice in the United States in American courts," the Attorney General proclaimed.

Footage shows the leader's entry in US and journey to detention.