Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are set to make an appearance in a federal Manhattan court on Monday. The court session, scheduled for noon local time (17:00 GMT), was confirmed by a court spokesperson as reported by CBS News.
The indictment, unveiled by US Attorney General Pam Bondi after the couple’s arrest, accuses Maduro, his wife, and four others of narco-terrorism conspiracy and related charges. In addition to the narco-terrorism charge, the indictment includes allegations of cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess such weapons.
Currently, Maduro and Flores are being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani received a briefing regarding their capture and impending federal custody in the city.
Their capture occurred during a US military operation that resulted in the deaths of approximately 40 individuals, including civilians and military personnel, according to a senior Venezuelan official. Elite Delta Force soldiers seized the Venezuelan leader and his wife from their heavily secured residence within a military base while they were asleep.
Subsequently, they were airlifted by a US military helicopter to the USS Iwo Jima in the Caribbean before being flown to the US, arriving in New York last night. Upon landing at Stewart Air National Guard Base in Orange County, several dozen individuals were observed escorting a figure, believed to be Maduro, off the plane.
Meanwhile, Delcy Rodriguez, the former vice president now acting as Venezuela’s president, condemned Maduro’s arrest as a violation of international law, demanding his immediate release. During a National Defense Council session following the US operation, Rodriguez criticized the US’s actions and urged unity among nations to resist such forceful interventions.