WASHINGTON, D.C. — Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were in the custody of the U.S. on Saturday morning after a targeted U.S. military operation that followed months of strikes on boats off the coast of Venezuela.
U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine said every branch of the U.S. military worked with the CIA, the National Security Agency, and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency before President Donald Trump issued the order at 10:46 p.m. on Friday to move forward with the mission.
“Not a single American serviceman was killed, and not one piece of military equipment was lost,” Trump said during a news conference in Mar-a-Lago, also adding, “We are going to run the country.”
Trump said the oil business in Venezuela “has been a bust” and the U.S. is going to have oil companies fix the oil infrastructure and start making money for Venezuela.
Trump’s promise: “We will make the people of Venezuela rich, independent and safe.”
Caine said the team that captured Maduro and Flores arrived at 1:01 a.m. on Saturday at a Venezuelan military compound. The U.S. and Venezuelan military clashed.
In Venezuela, CNN reported there were explosions at about 1:50 a.m. on Saturday in Caracas and shared witness video of two explosions at the Venezuelan military’s airbase known as La Carlota.
“Maduro and his wife, both indicted, gave up,” Caine said, adding that they were over the water by 3:29 a.m. on Saturday and landed on the USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7), a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship.
At about 4:25 a.m. on Saturday, Trump announced their capture and extraction from Venezuela after “a large scale strike” and an operation that was “done in conjunction with U.S. law enforcement.”
U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi announced at about 7:25 a.m. on Saturday that federal prosecutors were moving forward with the cases against Maduro and Flores in the Southern District of New York.
Bondi described Maduro and Flores as “two alleged international narco traffickers” and the U.S. military mission to capture them as “incredible” and “highly successful.”
“They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts,” Bondi wrote in a statement.
Maduro and Flores arrived shortly after 4:45 p.m. on Saturday at the Stewart Air National Guard base in Windsor, New York.
Maduro faced a charge of narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the United States.
Here is a timeline of U.S. actions before Jan. 3:
Nov. 18, 2013: The U.S. Justice Department announced that a senior official with the Banco de Desarrollo Económico y Social de Venezuela, or BANDES, a state-run economic development bank in Venezuela, admitted to corruption involving accounts in Switzerland.
Feb. 13, 2017: The U.S. Treasury announced sanctions against Tareck Zaidan El Aissami Maddah, who Maduro had appointed as the Venezuelan vice president on Jan. 4, 2017.
May 29, 2019: The State Department announced that a Venezuelan-American businessman based in Miami admitted to his role in a bribery scheme involving Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. and the Citgo Petroleum Corporation.
July 25, 2019: The U.S. Justice Department indicted Alex Nain Saab Moran, a close associate of Maduro, for money laundering related to foreign corruption.
Aug. 5, 2019: The U.S. Embassy in Venezuela reported that nearly 90% of hospitals in Venezuela reported shortages of medicine and inconsistent water supplies.
Sept. 17, 2019: The U.S. Treasury announced new sanctions related to Saab’s network.
March 26, 2020: The Justice Department announced the filing of federal charges against Maduro and 14 current and former Venezuelan officials in New York City, Washington, DC, and Miami.
The State Department announced there was a $15 million reward for Maduro’s capture and a $10 million reward for El Aissami Maddah, the former Venezuelan vice president.
Sept. 29, 2020: The State Department announced there was a $10 million reward for Pedro Luis Martin-Olivares, the former chief of the Venezuelan intelligence service. There were also announcements about a $5 million reward for Jesus Alfredo Itriago, the former chief of Venezuela’s counter-narcotics agency, and a $5 million reward for Rodolfo McTurk-Mora, the former head of Interpol in Venezuela.
Jan. 19, 2021: The State Department announced that the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control had designated and blocked three companies in Russia, Ukraine, and Venezuela and identified six vessels allegedly “involved in the lifting and transport of Venezuelan oil” in an effort to “limit” Maduro’s options.
Nov. 9, 2023: U.S. Department of Agriculture releases the Analysis of the 2022 Venezuela Food Security Situation reporting that the economy had declined 88% from 2012 to 2020, and the food supply growth did not fully meet the needs of Venezuelans.
Aug. 1, 2024: The State Department announced the U.S. did not recognize Maduro as the winner of the presidential election on July 28, 2024, in Venezuela.
Jan. 10, 2025: The U.S. offers a $25 million reward for the capture of Diosdado Cabello Rondón, a Venezuelan minister, and a $15 million reward for the capture of Vladimir Padrino López, a Venezuelan four-star general.
Jan. 20, 2025: Trump expands foreign terrorist organizations’ designation.
Feb. 20, 2025: The Trump administration designates Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization.
July 25, 2025: The U.S. Treasury announced the Cartel de Los Soles was to be treated as a “specially designated global terrorist.”
Aug. 7, 2025: State Secretary Marco Rubio announced that the reward for Maduro’s capture had increased to $50 million under the U.S. Narcotics Rewards Program.
Aug. 19, 2025: The U.S. Navy deploys three guided-missile destroyers to the southern Caribbean near Venezuela.
Sept. 2, 2025: The U.S. military reported killing 11 drug trafficking suspects during a strike in the Caribbean. After a controversial strike killed the two survivors of an initial strike, more followed on Sept. 15 and 19.
Oct. 2, 2025: Trump declared drug trafficking suspects as “unlawful combatants.”
Oct. 3, 2025: The U.S. military carried out a fourth fatal strike in the Caribbean, a fifth on Oct. 14, a sixth on Oct. 16, a seventh on Oct. 17, an eighth on Oct. 21, a ninth on Oct. 22, and a tenth on Oct. 24.
Oct. 15, 2025: Trump announced that he had authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela.
Oct. 24, 2025: The Pentagon deploys the USS Gerald R. Ford to the southern Caribbean.
Nov. 10, 2025: After several fatal strikes in the Pacific, the Pentagon announced there was a fatal strike in the Caribbean.
Nov. 16, 2025: The USS Gerald R. Ford arrives in the Caribbean.
Nov. 24, 2025: Rubio announced that the Cartel De Los Soles was a foreign terrorist organization headed by “Maduro and other high-ranking individuals of the illegitimate Maduro regime who have corrupted Venezuela’s military, intelligence, legislature, and judiciary.”
Dec. 1, 2025: The USS Gerald R. Ford arrives in St. Thomas.
Dec. 10, 2025: The U.S. seized an oil tanker with Venezuelan oil off the coast of Venezuela.
Dec. 16, 2025: Trump announced a blockade on all “sanctioned oil tankers” going to and leaving Venezuela.
Dec. 20, 2025: The U.S. seized a second tanker off the coast of Venezuela.
Dec. 30, 2025: The U.S. Treasury announced sanctions related to Iran-Venezuela trade in Mohajer-6, a combat drone with intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities. The Associated Press reported the CIA was behind a drone strike at a docking area in Venezuela.
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