Venezuelan leader Maduro arrives at New York courthouse

Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro on Monday arrived at a courthouse in New York City to stand trial for narco-terrorism.

Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, has also been charged with narcoterrorism-related offences. Their arraignment is expected around midday.

Shortly after 7 am, heavily armed law enforcement personnel moved Maduro and Flores from a Brooklyn detention centre by helicopter to a helipad near the courthouse. From there, they were placed in an armoured vehicle and escorted by a motorcade to the courthouse in Manhattan.

Visuals of their movements have surfaced.

BREAKING: Nicolás Maduro surrounded by heavy security as he is transported to New York City court ahead of his arraignment. pic.twitter.com/2EqrMrNKxe

— Fox News (@FoxNews) January 5, 2026

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Maduro is accused of overseeing a cocaine-trafficking network that partnered with violent organisations such as Mexico’s Sinaloa and Zetas cartels, Colombia’s Farc, and Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang, according to Reuters.

The Donald Trump administration has declared Maduro the head of a cartel called the ‘Cartel de los Soles’. But independent observers have said such a group does not exist and it is merely a general grouping of officials involved in illicit activities. The administration has labelled Venezuela a narco-state.

Previously, US special forces personnel on Saturday arrived in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, seized Maduro and Flores, and whisked them away. They were first transported to a US Navy warship and then to the mainland.

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The Trump administration dubbed the mission to capture Maduro and Flores ‘Operation Absolute Resolve’. The military intervention —the largest in South America since 1989 when the United States similarly invaded Panama to capture its ruler Manuel Noriega— followed many months of build-up in international waters around Venezuela where Trump deployed over 10,000 troops, several warships, and dozens of fighter planes.

Ahead of the capture, the administration said that 150 aircraft had participated in a bombing campaign that suppressed Venezuela’s air defences and struck key military sites.

Since September, the US military has also been blowing up boats in international waters around Venezuela and killing sailors. Independent observers have described those strikes as illegal as per the international law and in violation of longstanding US policies. In 35 strikes, the US military has so far killed at least 115 sailors. While the administration has said all of them were narco-terrorists, it has neither identified any of them nor provided evidence they were carrying drugs.