🔗 Share this article

American officials assert their military operation to capture Venezuela's president involved months of planning, but the moment Donald Trump issued the order to commence, "Operation Absolute Resolve" concluded after roughly 150 minutes.

The shocking pre-dawn strike this past weekend marked a never-before-seen incident in contemporary international relations and resulted in the arrest for Venezuela's president and his spouse, Cilia Flores.

Captured by soldiers belonging to a top-tier American military force when they attempted to escape into a heavily secured secure chamber, the pair are now in custody at a holding facility within New York City and are confronting narco-terrorism indictments.

A Early Morning Assault against the Military Complex

With daybreak that morning, the scale of the military operation in Caracas, Venezuela's capital, was clear.

Pictures of Fuerte Tiuna, a massive army installation where senior leadership reside, reveal blasted buildings as well as burned, smouldering cars.

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

Just Moments Before - The President Gives the Order

"Operation Absolute Resolve" began with reports of explosions around 02:00 in Caracas (6:00 Greenwich Mean Time).

American forces cut power to the city, the President has since said, describing it as "dark and deadly".

The aim was to disable Venezuela's air defense systems and open up the way for American assault helicopters to get to Fuerte Tiuna.

"We assessed that we successfully kept totally the advantage of surprise," the top general stated.

Strike locations encompassed the base, a maritime facility and an airport. Images depict Fuerte Tiuna engulfed in flames, with massive fires seen for miles.

Venezuelans have described the way American choppers flew low over Caracas, en route to the military base.

Some of the helicopters were shot at, however managed to continue flying, military leaders stated.

There was a lot of weapons fire," Trump added.

A Lightning-Fast On-the-Ground Operation

After landing, troops from an elite special operations unit, moved quickly.

They gained access to the compound just after 2 AM local time, and the presidential couple surrendered without resistance, as per accounts.

However, more details emerged. They attempted to flee into a secure location, described as a military "fortress".

"The safe place is all steel, and he failed to make it to the door as our personnel were so fast.

"It was a very thick door, a massive door," Trump told reporters. "He made it to the door. He could not to shut it."

However, even assuming they had managed to enter the safe room, troops could have blown it open in about "under a minute."

From Caracas to Manhattan

Now in US custody, the couple were moved some 2,100 miles, to New York City.

They were flown out of Caracas via chopper, and taken to the USS Iwo Jima, a naval vessel positioned off the coast. The team was completed "over the water" before 4:30 AM.

Aboard the vessel that an iconic image of the whole operation was captured - the president in handcuffs, wearing ear protectors and darkened eyewear resembling opaque glasses.

After leaving the ship, he was first flown at the American naval installation in Cuba.

They then traveled via official aircraft to a military airfield in New York, before a final helicopter transfer to Manhattan.

Confronting Justice in American Soil

On Saturday, footage emerged showing the detainee at the federal drug agency's headquarters in New York.

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

They have been charged including planning narco-terrorism and cocaine trafficking, owning automatic weapons and explosives, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and bombs against the US.

They are set to encounter the complete force of American justice on American soil in American courts," a senior legal official declared.

Footage documents the leader's entry in US and journey into custody.