NEW: Venezuelan Dictator

U.S. aircraft thundered across the skies of Caracas before sunrise, marking the opening moments of a dramatic overnight operation.

Within minutes, Venezuela’s long-time leader was detained, as years of behind-the-scenes pressure and preparation abruptly shifted into open action.

According to the account, U.S. special operations forces launched a tightly synchronized strike on strategic military sites in the capital, enabling a ground unit to penetrate the president’s inner security circle.

Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were taken into custody, moved swiftly to a secured extraction point, and flown out of the country under heavy protection.

Soon afterward, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced extensive criminal charges filed in the Southern District of New York, alleging narco-terrorism, large-scale cocaine trafficking, and long-running weapons conspiracies.

Prosecutors claim Maduro played a central role in the so-called Cartel de los Soles, allegedly using state institutions to facilitate cocaine shipments to the United States in coordination with Colombia’s FARC. Flores faces parallel accusations, signaling an effort to target the regime’s leadership as a whole.

With court proceedings expected to begin, the former ruler—once governing by decree—now faces the possibility of spending the remainder of his life answering charges in a U.S. federal courtroom.