How The Military Operation To Capture Maduro Unfolded

The U.S. military operation to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro came after months of planning and launched only when a break in bad weather on Friday night granted U.S. aviators a path into the capital, Caracas, according to the Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine. Maduro and his wife were taken from a fortified compound after both tried to reach the steel door of a safe room, President Donald Trump said Saturday. The raid was condemned by numerous countries, including some U.S. allies, and a spokesperson for U.N. Secretary General António Guterres called it "a dangerous precedent.”

Though much remains unknown about how the events unfolded, an account given Saturday by Caine and a review of visuals by The Washington Post identified several key moments and locations in the operation.

Months ago

According to Caine, planning for the operation to take Maduro began months ago and involved coordination among every branch of the armed forces, as well as U.S. intelligence agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

The Post previously reported that the U.S. deployed two Army Delta Force units in recent weeks to establish a "pattern of life” on Maduro in advance of the operation, mapping out his location and daily movements, according to a person familiar with that deployment. Delta Force, known within the clandestine community as Combat Applications Group, is among the Pentagon's most elite units, tasked with executing high-stakes and secretive missions, including hostage rescue and kill-and-capture missions.

In early December, according to Caine, the military was ready and deciding on "the right day to minimize the potential for civilian harm and maximize the element of surprise and minimize the harm” to Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who was indicted on narco-terrorism charges along with Maduro on Saturday.

Friday night

On Friday night, Caine said, bad winter weather finally broke "just enough” to clear a path "that only the most skilled aviators in the world could maneuver through.”

At 10:46 p.m. Eastern time, he said, Trump gave the military the order to proceed.

Over the course of the night, aircraft began launching from 20 different bases on land and sea across the Western Hemisphere. In total, more than 150 aircraft, bombers, fighters, intelligence, reconnaissance, surveillance, rotary wing were in the air Saturday night.

As the night began, the helicopters took off with the extraction force, which included law enforcement officers, and began their flight into Venezuela at 100 feet above the water. As they approached Venezuelan shores, the United States began layering different effects provided by Space Comm, Cyber Comm and other members of the interagency, to create a pathway overhead.

Those forces were protected by aircraft from the U.S. Marines, the Navy, the Air Force and the Air National Guard. The force included F-22s, F-35, F-18, E18, E-2, B-1 bombers and other support aircraft, as well as numerous remotely piloted drones. As the Air Force began to approach Caracas, the Joint Air Component began dismantling and disabling the air defense systems in Venezuela, employing weapons to ensure the safe passage of the helicopters into the target area.

The Post confirmed five locations that were ultimately hit during the strike based on visuals and accounts from witnesses and government officials.

Multiple visuals showed explosions at military installations in and around Caracas, including the Generalissimo Francisco de Miranda air base, also known as La Carlota air base, as well as at the port of La Guaira north of the capital and Higuerote Airport about 75 miles east.

Saturday morning

Multiple videos verified by The Post showed a formation of helicopters flying above Fort Tiuna, a key military installation in Caracas that houses, among other facilities, the country's Defense Ministry. Explosions in the hillsides overlooking Fort Tiuna could be seen as the helicopters flew overhead.

The Post identified purpose-built versions of helicopters used by Special Operations forces, including workhorse MH-47 Chinooks and MH-60 Black Hawks, both of which ferry operators to missions on the ground and can defend them with support fire.

In one video, which the person narrating says was filmed at 1:58 a.m., at least three helicopters are seen flying in a northeasterly direction near Fort Tiuna as plumes of smoke rise from the base. The geolocation was first shared on X by open-source researcher John Marquee and corroborated by The Post. A helicopter appears to be descending amid smoke plumes in an area of Fort Tiuna tucked into the surrounding hills, where satellite imagery released on Saturday by Vantor showed the aftermath of airstrikes. The helicopter descended in the direction of a road that appears to lead into an underground entrance to the hillside that sustained damage, satellite imagery shows.

According to Caine, U.S. forces arrived at Maduro's "compound” at 2:02 a.m. local time, or 1:02 a.m. Eastern. One aircraft was hit as the troops apprehended Maduro and his wife, Caine said.

After taking Maduro and his wife, Caine said, U.S. forces called in helicopters to extract them while other aircraft provided "suppressive fire.”

By 3:29 a.m. Eastern, 21⁄2 hours after the raid on the compound began, the helicopter carrying Maduro and Flores was over the water taking the couple to the Navy warship, the Iwo Jima.
Maduro and Flores were sent to New York City, Trump said, where both were indicted on Saturday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on federal charges of narco-terrorism.

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