Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his spouse Cilia Flores are set to make an appearance in a federal court in Manhattan on Monday. The court session is slated for noon local time (17:00 GMT), as confirmed by a court representative cited in reports by CBS News.
A federal indictment charging President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela, along with his wife and four others, with narco-terrorism conspiracy and other offenses, was unveiled and shared online by US Attorney General Pam Bondi on Saturday morning subsequent to the couple’s dramatic apprehension.
In addition to the narco-terrorism conspiracy accusation, the indictment includes charges of cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, as well as conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.
The duo is said to be detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal facility in Brooklyn, New York.
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani disclosed that he received a briefing regarding the apprehension of Maduro and his wife, along with their anticipated detention in federal custody in New York City.
President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were apprehended during a high-profile US military operation that resulted in the loss of around 40 lives, including civilians and military personnel, as stated by a senior Venezuelan official.
The Venezuelan leader and his spouse were both captured by elite Delta Force soldiers while they were asleep inside a heavily fortified residence within a military compound.
They were forcibly removed from their sleeping quarters and airlifted via a US military helicopter to the USS Iwo Jima, a US naval vessel situated in the Caribbean, before being flown to the United States, arriving last night, local time.
Upon landing at Stewart Air National Guard Base in Orange County, New York, a group of individuals escorted a figure identified by US TV networks as Maduro down the aircraft stairs and across the tarmac.
A number of individuals resembling law enforcement officers were observed escorting a person in grey attire across the tarmac.
Meanwhile, Delcy Rodriguez, former vice president and current acting president of Venezuela, criticized the United States and condemned the arrest of Maduro as a violation of international law, urging for his immediate release.
During a National Defense Council meeting following the US military action, Rodriguez, who also holds positions as the finance and oil minister, stated, “We urge the peoples of the great homeland to stand together, as the actions taken against Venezuela could be replicated elsewhere. The brutal display of force to subjugate a nation’s will could be directed at any country.”