Maduro’s arrest in pictures and maps

The United States says its military operation to capture Venezuela’s president was planned for months, but Operation Absolute Resolve lasted only about 150 minutes when Donald Trump gave the order to launch it.

The unexpected attack in the early hours of Saturday marked an unprecedented event in modern politics, culminating in the arrest of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Celia Flores.

The two were captured by elite US military forces as they tried to escape into a high-security safe room and are currently being held in a detention center in New York and face narco-terrorism charges.

As the sun rose on Saturday, the scale of the military operation in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, was clear.

Photos of Fuerte Tiuna, a huge military base where senior government officials live, showed bombed-out buildings and charred and smoking cars.

Venezuela’s ruling party leader Nahum Fernandez told The Associated Press that it was in this compound that Maduro and his wife were arrested.

Operation Absolute Resolve began with reports of an explosion in Caracas at around 02:00 AM (06:00 GMT).

Trump has since said the United States had cut power to the city, describing it as “dark and deadly.”

The aim was to disable Venezuela’s air defenses and clear the way for U.S. military helicopters to reach Tiuna Fuerte.

“Our assessment is that we fully maintained our level of surprise,” said Gen. Dan Cain, the most senior U.S. military officer.

The BBC has verified five attack sites, including compounds, a port and an airport. Photos show Fuerte Tiuna on fire, with huge flames visible for miles.

Venezuelans described how U.S. military helicopters flew low over Caracas en route to Tiunafuerte.

General Kane said some helicopters were under attack but were still able to fly.

Trump added: “The shots were loud.”

Once on the ground, troops from the U.S. Army’s Delta Force, an elite special forces unit, moved quickly.

General Kane said they entered the compound at 02:01 local time and the Maduro family “gave up” without any effort.

But Trump gave more details. The US president explained that the Maduro family was trying to flee to safety, describing it as a military “fortress”.

“The safe area was all steel and he didn’t get to the door because our guys were too fast.

“It’s a very thick door, a very heavy door,” Trump told reporters. “He got to the door. He couldn’t close the door.”

But Trump said even if they managed to get into the safe room, the military would have blown it open in about “47 seconds.”

Nicolás Maduro and his wife are now in U.S. custody and being flown some 2,100 miles (3,400 kilometers) to New York City.

They left Caracas by helicopter and were taken to the USS Iwo Jima, a warship stationed in the Caribbean. General Kane said the team returned to the “surface” at 04:29.

It was on the boat that we got one of the defining photos of the entire operation – Maduro handcuffed, wearing ear protection and an eye patch that looked like dark sunglasses.

He first flew from the USS Iwo Jima to the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay.

The Maduros then took a government plane to Stewart Air National Guard Base in New York State and then took a helicopter to Manhattan.

On Saturday, a video was released showing Maduro at the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) headquarters in New York.

He and Celia Flores are currently being held in a detention center in the city.

They were charged with conspiring to commit narco-terrorism and importing cocaine, possessing machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiring to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the United States.

“They will soon face the full wrath of American justice in American courts on American soil,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said.