From within the Caracas 'fort' to the New York courtroom: The Venezuelan leader's seizure in images as well as maps.
The US assert the military operation aimed at apprehending Venezuela's president took months of careful preparation, however when the US President gave the command to launch, the mission dubbed "Absolute Resolve" was completed in approximately 150 minutes.
The shocking early-morning attack this past weekend signified an unprecedented incident within modern politics and led directly to the arrest of Nicolás Maduro and his spouse, Cilia Flores de Maduro.
Captured by soldiers belonging to a top-tier US army unit while they tried to escape inside a heavily secured secure chamber, the two are now detained at a holding facility within New York City and are confronting narco-terrorism accusations.
A Early Morning Assault against the Military Complex
At sunrise on Saturday, the magnitude of the armed intervention in the capital, the nation's primary city, was evident.
Pictures from Fuerte Tiuna, an enormous military complex where top government officials reside, reveal blasted buildings and charred, smoking cars.
The location was this compound that Maduro and his wife were apprehended, a senior political figure a party official reported.
Hours Before - The President Gives the Order
The mission started amid reports of blasts at about 02:00 in Caracas (6:00 Greenwich Mean Time).
American forces disabled electricity across the capital, the President has since said, calling it "dark and deadly".
The goal was to disable the nation's air defences and open up the way for US military helicopters to get to the target.
"We assessed that we had maintained totally the advantage of surprise," a senior military officer commented.
Targeted sites included the compound, a maritime facility and an airport. Pictures show Fuerte Tiuna engulfed in flames, with massive fires visible for miles.
Residents have described how American choppers flew at low altitude over Caracas, heading for Fuerte Tiuna.
Some of the helicopters came under fire, but managed to continue flying, officials said.
There was a lot of gunfire," Trump added.
The Rapid Ground Assault
Once on the ground, troops from an elite special operations unit, sprang into action.
They gained access to the compound just after 2 AM local time, and the presidential couple "gave up" without resistance, as per accounts.
However, more details were provided. They tried to escape into a safe place, described as a heavily fortified bunker.
The secure room is all steel, and he failed to get to the door because our guys were so fast.
It featured an extremely heavy door, a very heavy door," Trump informed the media. "He made it the entrance. He could not to shut it."
However, even assuming they had succeeded to enter the bunker, forces could have blown it open in approximately "47 seconds".
From the Capital to Manhattan
Now in US custody, Nicolás Maduro and his wife were moved approximately 3,400 kilometers, to Manhattan.
They were taken by air from the capital via chopper, and transferred to the USS Iwo Jima, a warship positioned off the coast. The operation was back "over the water" before 4:30 AM.
Aboard the vessel where one of the defining pictures from the entire mission was captured - Maduro in handcuffs, wearing ear protectors and a type of blindfold that looked like dark sunglasses.
After leaving the ship, his initial stop was at the American naval installation at Guantánamo Bay.
They were then flown via official aircraft to Stewart Air National Guard Base in New York state, and then via helicopter into New York City.
Facing Justice in American Soil
On Saturday, a video was released depicting Maduro at the Drug Enforcement Agency's (DEA) main office in the city.
He and Cilia Flores are presently detained at a federal holding facility in the city.
They face charges with conspiracy to commit drug-related terrorism and import cocaine, owning machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the US.
"They will soon face the complete force of the US legal system in the United States within US courtrooms," the Attorney General proclaimed.
Footage shows the leader's entry into American and journey to detention.
