When US Offered $50,000,000 Reward For 'Wanted' Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro's Capture

2026-01-03 06:11:34

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Hours following the bombing in Venezuela, US President Donald Trump confirmed the 'large scale strike by US,' announcing that President Nicolas Maduro and his wife have been captured, and flown out of the nation. Maduro's 'removal' comes days after US had offered a $50m reward for information leading to the arrest of the Venezuelan president, doubling an earlier reward of $25m set by the Trump administration in January 2025.

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The US has accused the Venezuelan leader of being one of the world's leading narco-traffickers and working with cartels to flood the US with fentanyl-laced cocaine.

In 2020, federal prosecutors alleged that Maduro and other senior Venezuelan government officials collaborated with the Colombian guerilla group Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, or FARC, to traffic cocaine and weapons to the United States.

US carries out strikes in Venezuela

At least seven explosions and low-flying aircraft were reportedly heard around 2 am (local time) Saturday in Venezuela's capital, Caracas.

The attacks took place in Caracas and the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira, the Venezuelan government said in a statement, as per Reuters.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the operation was conducted in coordination with US law enforcement agencies.“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 wrote.

How was Maduro captured?

According to CBS News, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was captured by members of Delta Force, the US military's top special mission unit.

The elite Army Delta Force was also responsible for the 2019 mission that killed former Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

(This is a developing story. Keep checking for more updates)

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