Nicolás Maduro Brought to New York to Face U.S. Criminal Charges
Maduro Arrives in New York After Capture in Caracas
Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, arrived at Stewart Air National Guard Base, just north of New York City, on Saturday afternoon, after their capture during a U.S. military operation in Caracas.
Maduro and Flores were captured overnight from their home in Caracas. Following their apprehension, they were transported to the USS Iwo Jima warship and later flown to New York to face criminal charges. Two unnamed sources stated that the couple could be arraigned as soon as Monday.
Transfer to Federal Detention in Brooklyn
On Saturday at approximately 8:52 p.m. ET, Nicolás Maduro arrived at the Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal facility in Brooklyn. As of Saturday evening, he was not scheduled to be housed in his own wing. The confinement status of Cilia Flores on Saturday night was not known.
The Metropolitan Detention Center is described as one of the few detention facilities in the United States with capacity for high-security defendants. It has housed other high-profile defendants including Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, Luigi Mangione, Sean "Diddy" Combs, and Ghislaine Maxwell.
DEA Presence at New York Arrival
Drug Enforcement Administration agents were present at a helipad before Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores arrived in custody in New York City following their capture in the U.S. military operation on January 3, 2026.
Superseding Indictment and Charges in New York
A superseding indictment was filed in the Southern District of New York against Nicolás Maduro, members of his family, and members of his cabinet. The United States is accusing Maduro of conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism and conspiracy to import cocaine. He is also accused of possession of, and conspiracy to possess, machine guns and destructive devices, according to the indictment unsealed Saturday by Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Pam Bondi stated that the defendants "will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts." The charges in the superseding indictment appear to be the same as those filed in a 2020 indictment of Maduro and several key aides.
The indictment was prepared by New York U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. It asserts that, for over 25 years, leaders of Venezuela abused positions of public trust and corrupted institutions to import tons of cocaine into the United States, and it alleges that Maduro is at the forefront of that corruption, using his authority and government institutions to transport thousands of tons of cocaine to the United States.
Allegations Against Cilia Flores and Venezuelan Officials
The U.S. government claims in the indictment that Cilia Flores is involved in her husband's alleged crimes. According to the indictment, Flores allegedly brokered a meeting between a large-scale drug trafficker and Nestor Reverol Torres, then director of Venezuela's National Anti-Drug Office, and allegedly accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in 2007.
According to the indictment, the trafficker arranged a bribe to Nestor Reverol Torres of $100,000 per flight to ship cocaine. Reverol Torres was indicted in 2015 by U.S. prosecutors in New York.
The 2020 indictment filed against Maduro alleged that he and other senior Venezuelan government officials collaborated with the Colombian guerrilla group Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, or FARC, to traffic cocaine and weapons to the United States. Maduro has previously denied the accusations against him.
Statement from the U.S. President
Hours after the U.S. military operation in Caracas, President Donald Trump said the United States would run Venezuela at least temporarily and tap its oil reserves to sell to other nations.