Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, touched down in New York City Saturday night after being captured by US forces — and were greeted by jeers of “Down with the dictator.”
The pair — who landed at Stewart Air National Guard Base in Upstate Newburgh around 5 p.m. — arrived via helicopter at a Manhattan heliport just before 7 p.m. and were hauled away in a heavily armed tactical vehicle called a “Bearcat” surrounded by a small motorcade.
Maduro, 63, and Flores, 69, will first be transported to the Drug Enforcement Administration Headquarters in Chelsea, where he was processed before returning to the West 30th Street Heliport and choppered to Brooklyn, sources told The Post.
He took off after 8 p.m., and was seen on video being flown down the West Side of Manhattan and past the Statue of Liberty before heading to Brooklyn.
One of the helicopters believed to be carrying Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores arrives after they were captured overnight in Venezuela, at the Westside Heliport in New York City, U.S., January 3, 2026. REUTERS
In Brooklyn, a motorcade was set to take the couple to the Metropolitan Detention Center, as they are set to face narco-terrorism charges in the Southern District of New York, sources said.
Outside a large crowd of opponents of his regime gathered to give him a Bronx cheer in Brooklyn, yelling things like “Shame on you” and “Dirty Scumbag!”
DEA awaiting arrival of Nicolas Maduro chopper at W 34st heliport. Robert Miller
Nicolas Maduro chopper arrival at W 34st heliport. Robert Miller
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife arriving by helicopter in Manhattan as seen from Weehawken, NJ on January 3, 2026. Christopher Sadowski
President Nicolás Maduro lands at the 30th St. heliport. Aristide Economopoulos
U.S. Department of Justice Federal Officers patrol outside the Metropolitan Detention Center. REUTERSThe tyrant is expected in the federal court as early as Monday.
The Venezuelan leader and his wife were captured by US forces during a high-stakes military operation Saturday morning in Caracas, leaving the South American country in a constitutional crisis.
Maduro and Flores were charged with narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy and weapons offenses.
Here’s the latest on Nicolás Maduro’s capture:
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Maduro’s son, Nicholas Ernesto Maduro Guerra, who’s known as “The Prince,” was also charged alongside his parents for the illegal trafficking of thousands of tons of cocaine.
Trump said the couple will face the “full wrath of American justice.”
The US will run the embattled nation until a transition government is in place, “until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” he added.
