Maduro captured and facing trial

On March 26, 2020, a federal grand jury in Manhattan charged Nicolás Maduro with narco-terrorism. Prosecutors said he and his inner circle ran the Cartel of the Suns and helped move tons of cocaine toward the United States. The State Department put a $15 million price on his head. Then he stayed in power for almost six more years.

A small-business owner takes a deadbeat customer to court and wins. Then comes the real problem: nothing happens until someone finds the man and puts the papers in his hand, and some people are very good at not being found.

The night he was served

Early on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, more than 150 U.S. aircraft took off from 20 bases across the Western Hemisphere. Delta Force operators, with FBI agents and a small CIA team on the ground, reached Maduro's compound in Caracas around 1 a.m. Eastern. By 3:20 a.m. the helicopters were over open water with Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, aboard. President Trump said some American troops were hit and one helicopter was struck, but no Americans were killed.

Two days later, Maduro stood before Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan and pleaded not guilty to four counts, including narco-terrorism conspiracy and cocaine importation conspiracy. On Oct. 8, prosecutors added a torture conspiracy charge, alleging the regime tortured nine people, three of them American citizens. Judge Hellerstein has denied Flores bail, arguments on Maduro's claim of immunity are set for Nov. 17, and trial is scheduled for June 2027.

The legal questions

Maduro's lawyer calls the arrest an abduction, and some members of Congress have questioned whether the President could order the raid without congressional approval. Those are fair questions, and the courts and Congress will weigh them.

Here is what is also true. The charges were filed in 2020, and wanting Maduro gone was one of the few positions both parties shared; in 2024 Democratic Rep. Darren Soto posted about raising the reward for his capture to $100 million. This administration offered $50 million. Posting a reward was the easy part. Going to get him was the hard part.

Venezuela is not yet a democracy, and free elections are the test that matters most for Venezuelans. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro's former vice president, governs with heavy U.S. influence, and no election date is set. But Secretary of State Marco Rubio says 1,046 Venezuelans have been released since Maduro's capture, and U.S.-backed talks between the government and part of the opposition began in August.

The papers were filed in 2020. On Jan. 3 they were finally served, and a Manhattan jury is set to take it from there on June 1, 2027.