According to “Operation Absolute Resolve,” Maduro was taken by the US military in “a matter of seconds” after they raided a safe house.
US Special Forces commandos destroyed air defence systems to attack Nicolás Maduro’s fortified safe house in a surprise military operation inside Venezuela.
Operation Absolute Resolve began under the cover of darkness when about 150 military aircraft, including fighter jets, bombers and reconnaissance aircraft, took off from 20 military bases and naval ships.
Explosions and the sound of attack helicopters shook Caracas in a swift sequence of events.
The strikes, which targeted a major military base and an airbase, among other sites, continued for about an hour.
And within moments, dictator Maduro – who has been the country’s leader for the past 12 years – was loaded into a military helicopter with his wife and flown back to the US.
The extraordinary operation began.
The extraordinary operation began between midnight and 1 a.m. American strike forces began positioning themselves “during the darkest hours” in Caracas time.
At around 2 am, several explosions were heard in Caracas, and plumes of smoke were seen rising over the city.
Gen. Dan Kane, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said fighter planes, including F-22 Raptors, F-35 stealth fighters and Navy F-18 Hornets, were deployed to Venezuela to destroy the country’s air defences.
Fuerte Tiuna, Venezuela’s largest military complex in Caracas, and Carlota airbase in the north were the targets of the attacks.
La Guaira, north of the capital, where Caracas’ airport and port are located, was also hit.
Tomahawk missiles fired from US Navy destroyers also destroyed Russian long-range surface-to-air (SAM) missile batteries and short-range Pechora and Pantsir missile bases operated by the Cubans, sources told The Sun.
Meanwhile, electronic warfare Growler aircraft jammed radar systems, causing communications disruption and power grids across Venezuela, he said.
All this was done to clear the way for a fleet of MH-60 (Black Hawk variant) and MH-47 (Chinook variant) of the US Air Force 160th Special Operations Regiment equipped for high-risk infiltration and extraction missions.
Helicopters carrying Deltas and possibly SEAL teams take off from the USS Gerald Ford aircraft carrier and a special forces vessel known as the “Ghost Ship.”
Naval assets have been moving closer to Venezuela for weeks after the US launched its largest military buildup since the Iraq War.
As American strike forces provided air cover, radar and thermal night vision allowed helicopters to operate at low altitude through the mountain valleys surrounding the city.
The US Army’s Delta Force and FBI agents soon landed and launched an attack on the Venezuelan mainland army, which is headquartered in the centre of Caracas.
Between 2 am and 2.30 am, US special forces raided Maduro’s residence inside a heavily fortified military compound.
Quickly descending and climbing onto the rooftops, the Delta teams fired sudden bursts of fire to stun the Venezuelan soldiers guarding the compound.
They then took out Maduro’s inner ring of bodyguards, made up of Cuba’s much-feared Avias Negras special forces, with a volley of HK416 assault rifles, whose firing rate exceeded 800 rounds per minute.
The soldiers surprised themselves when the Americans entered.
Special forces then forced their way through the compound and entered Maduro’s room.
General Cain said Maduro and his wife tried to escape into the steel-reinforced room but were stopped by US forces.
Trump said US troops built a replica of Maduro’s safe house and practised how they would enter the heavily fortified residence.
The US President said they were able to penetrate the defensive layers of the complex in a matter of seconds.
Maduro and his wife were then loaded onto a Chinook helicopter and at about 4:29 pm, they were transferred to the USS Iwo Jima, a warship in the Caribbean.
Trump hinted at a postponed “second wave” during his Saturday press conference.
More special forces teams were on standby to reinforce Delta and possibly pursue secondary targets if they failed to counterattack Maduro or Caracas.
But Trump said he was prepared to “stage a second wave of much larger attacks” if necessary.
“All of Venezuela’s military and politicians must understand that what happened to Maduro can happen to them too,” he said.
The US President also hinted at a permanent military presence, saying, “We will stay in and run the country until we have a safe and just transition.”
General Kane said the inter-agency work on the attack “began months ago and was built on decades of experience integrating complex air, ground, space, and maritime operations.”
Aerial surveillance for months by satellites and Reaper drones Flying at high altitude was also necessary to map Venezuelan air defences and installations.
According to a source familiar with the matter, in August the CIA had a small team on the ground that was able to provide information about Maduro’s life patterns, making him easier to capture.
Two other sources said the intelligence agency also had an asset close to Maduro that would monitor his movements and was ready to pinpoint his exact location should the operation begin.
CIA, NSA and National Crime General Kane said the agency (NCA) cooperated for this “carefully planned” operation.
FBI agents accompanied Maduro when he arrived on US soil with his wife on Saturday evening.
The footage shows a US federal plane arriving at Stewart Air National Guard Base in New York carrying the Venezuelan dictator and his wife, Celia Flores.
Dozens of FBI agents escorted Maduro into custody ahead of his scheduled execution court appearance in Manhattan federal court.
Charges of narco-terrorism and weapons-related offences await his trial in New York.
Venezuelans had been preparing attacks on their territory for months, following repeated threats by Trump to escalate his campaign against Maduro’s administration.
Trump has consistently blasted Venezuela under Maduro as an illegitimate regime, accusing him of working as a narcotics state in collusion with the U.S. adversaries.
The US president has long threatened to order military strikes following months of attacks on boats in Venezuelan territory. The drugs originate from a country in South America.
The White House said Washington was in armed conflict with drug cartels to stem the flow of narcotics to the United States, while US officials alleged Maduro supported the international drug trade.
Before the increase, there had been 35 known attacks against alleged drug-trafficking boats in South American waters since the beginning of September, killing at least 115 people, according to Republican administration announcements.
The regime change in Caracas has been central to Trump’s view that Venezuela’s political restructuring is essential to curb Russian and Chinese influence and unlock vast swathes of the country. Oil Possibility.
Politically, Venezuela now faces a delicate transition period.
Removing Maduro, who led Venezuela for more than 12 years, could potentially create a power vacuum in the Latin American country.
