Hours following the bombing in Venezuela, US President Donald Trump confirmed the ‘large scale strike by US,’ announcing that President Nicolas Maduro and his wife have been captured, and flown out of the nation. Maduro’s ‘removal’ comes days after the US had offered a $50m reward for information leading to the arrest of the Venezuelan president, doubling an earlier reward of $25m set by the Trump administration in January 2025.
The US has accused the Venezuelan leader of being one of the world’s leading narco-traffickers and working with cartels to flood the US with fentanyl-laced cocaine.
In 2020, federal prosecutors alleged that Maduro and other senior Venezuelan government officials collaborated with the Colombian guerilla group Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, or FARC, to traffic cocaine and weapons to the United States.
US carries out strikes in Venezuela
At least seven explosions and low-flying aircraft were reportedly heard around 2 am (local time) Saturday in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas.
The attacks took place in Caracas and the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira, the Venezuelan government said in a statement, as per Reuters.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump claimed the operation was conducted in coordination with US law enforcement agencies. “The United States of America has successfully carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the country,” Trump wrote.
How was Maduro captured?
According to cbs newsVenezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was captured by members of Delta Force, the US military’s top special mission unit.
The elite Army Delta Force was also responsible for the 2019 mission that killed former Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Why US attacked Venezuela?
The US’ ‘large scale strike’ against Venezuela follows months of military buildup in the region, with the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier and numerous other warships positioned in the Caribbean.
The US has repeatedly accused the Venezuelan leader of being one of the world’s leading narco-traffickers – alleging that he worked with cartels to flood the US with fentanyl-laced cocaine.
In 2020, federal prosecutors claimed that Maduro and other senior Venezuelan government officials collaborated with the Colombian guerilla group Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, or FARC, to traffic cocaine and weapons to the United States.
More recently, Washington had stepped up enforcement actions in the region – seized two oil tankers off Venezuela, launched deadly strikes on more than 30 boats the administration says were carrying drugs, and struck what President Trump called “the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs.”
