How a Mock House, CIA Intel and Special Forces Came Together in the Daring U.S. Raid to Capture Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro

4 January 2026

In the early hours of January 3 2026, United States forces carried out one of the most audacious and controversial operations in recent memory, capturing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores in the heart of Caracas in a mission that was months in the making and involved a blend of meticulous planning, human intelligence and elite military execution.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced the success of the operation via social media shortly after 4.20 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, describing it as a dramatic and effective action that resulted in Maduro’s capture and transport out of Venezuela into U.S. custody. The raid, referred to internally as Operation Absolute Resolve, followed an intelligence-led buildup and a tactical rehearsal campaign that underscores how deeply the United States invested in bringing Maduro to heel.

At the heart of this operation was the extraordinary level of preparation that went far beyond conventional military briefings. For months, U.S. special operations planners constructed a full-scale replica of Maduro’s fortified safe house, a mock version of the compound where the Venezuelan leader was believed to be holed up, allowing American forces including Army Delta Force units, to rehearse entry, movement and extraction tactics in precise detail. This rehearsal space was not a makeshift exercise but an exact architectural reproduction designed to simulate corridors, doors and defensive obstacles, enabling operators to refine every aspect of how they would breach and secure the building.

Crucial to the timing and execution of the assault was human intelligence collected over months by the Central Intelligence Agency. Beginning in August 2025, a CIA team on the ground developed a deep understanding of Maduro’s daily routines, patterns of movement and security protocols. According to sources familiar with the matter, the agency also worked closely with an insider close to Maduro, an asset positioned to provide real-time intelligence that could pinpoint his exact location as the mission unfolded. This close cooperation between intelligence operatives and military planners transformed what might have been a blind tactical insertion into a highly targeted capture operation.

Trump, who monitored the operation from his private club in Palm Beach, Florida, had authorized the mission several days earlier but agreed with advisors that it should only proceed under optimal conditions, particularly in terms of weather and clouds, which could affect air and ground coordination. When the order was given, U.S. military forces had already mobilised a significant footprint around the Caribbean, deploying an aircraft carrier, multiple warships and more than a dozen F-35 stealth fighters as part of a broader posture shift that had been underway for weeks.

The assault began late on January 2 and carried into the small hours of January 3, with U.S. air assets striking Venezuelan air defence systems to clear the way for helicopters to insert Delta Force commandos into Caracas. Video captured by Caracas residents showed a convoy of helicopters flying low over the city, adding an element of shock and surprise to the operation. Once on the ground, commandos and FBI agents moved against Maduro’s compound, breaching reinforced doors with specialised tools and quickly overwhelming any resistance. Within a matter of minutes the team located Maduro and Flores, who were then restrained and evacuated.

Maduro and his wife were initially taken aboard the USS Iwo Jima, a U.S. naval vessel stationed off the coast, before being flown to the United States. Maduro is now being held in a New York detention centre and is expected to face federal criminal charges, including narco-terrorism and cocaine importation conspiracy, in the U.S. Southern District of New York. These charges stem from a 2020 indictment and mark a rare instance of a sitting head of state being apprehended by U.S. forces to face domestic charges.

The operation has already triggered diplomatic and geopolitical reactions. Venezuelan vice president Delcy Rodríguez, who has assumed a leadership role in Caracas following Maduro’s capture, denounced the raid as an act of “military aggression” and demanded proof of life for the detained leader, reflecting the deep domestic tensions and political uncertainty within Venezuela after the abrupt removal of its long-serving president.

International responses have been mixed, with some governments supporting the U.S. stance against alleged narco-terrorism and corruption, while others have criticised the unilateral nature of the operation as a violation of Venezuelan sovereignty and questioned its legality under international law. Germany, for example, urged a political solution to the Venezuelan crisis, emphasising diplomatic engagement over military intervention as the only viable path forward.

The operation also raises questions about the future of Venezuela’s governance, the role of U.S. intervention in sovereign nations and the precedent set when military force is used to effect political change. With Maduro in U.S. custody and facing trial, Caracas’s interim government insists it remains united in defence of the country’s leadership and rejects foreign interference in domestic affairs.

As the global community digests the implications of Operation Absolute Resolve, the extraordinary level of planning from mock houses to CIA sources, highlights how modern military operations rely on detailed preparation, human intelligence and technological integration to achieve strategic objectives, even amid controversy and geopolitical risk.