Spies, drones and blowtorches: How the US captured Maduro

For months, American spies have been watching every move of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

A small team, including one Venezuelan government source, observed where the 63-year-old man slept, what he ate, what he wore and even, according to senior military officials, “his pets.”

Then, in early December, the planned mission, dubbed Operation Absolute Resolve, was completed. It was the result of months of careful planning and rehearsals, during which elite US troops even created an exact full-size replica of Maduro's safe house in Caracas to practice entry routes.

The plan, which represented an extraordinary US military intervention in Latin America not seen since the Cold War, was closely guarded. Congress was not informed or consulted in advance. Once the exact details were determined, senior military officials simply had to wait for optimal launch conditions.

They wanted to maximize the element of surprise, officials said Saturday. There was a false start four days ago when President Trump gave approval, but they decided to wait for better weather and less cloud cover.

“For weeks leading up to Christmas and New Year's, the men and women of the United States Armed Forces sat on alert, patiently waiting for the right triggers to emerge and for the President to order us to act,” Gen. Dan Cain, the nation's highest-ranking military officer, said at a news conference Saturday morning.

“Good luck and good luck”

The President's order to begin the mission finally came at 10:46 pm Eastern Time on Friday. “We were going to do this four days ago, three days ago, two days ago, and then suddenly everything opened up. And we said, go ahead,” Trump himself told Fox & Friends on Saturday, hours after the overnight raid.

“He told us, and we appreciate it… good luck and good luck,” General Kane said. Trump's order came just before midnight in Caracas, giving the military much of the night to operate in the dark.

What followed was a two-hour and twenty-minute mission by air, land and sea that stunned many in Washington and around the world. In terms of scale and precision, it was almost unprecedented. And it drew immediate condemnation from several regional powers, with Brazilian President Lula da Silva saying the violent capture of the Venezuelan leader set “another extremely dangerous precedent for the entire international community.”

Trump did not monitor the progress of the mission from the White House situation center. Instead, he was surrounded by his advisers at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, where he watched a live broadcast of the operation, accompanied by CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“It was an incredible sight,” Trump said Saturday. “If you saw what happened, I mean, I literally watched it like I was watching a TV show. And if you saw the speed, the violence… it's just an amazing thing, an amazing job that these people did.”

Thousands of U.S. troops have been deployed to the region in recent months, joining an aircraft carrier and dozens of warships in the biggest military buildup in decades as President Trump has accused Maduro of drug trafficking and narco-terrorism and blown up dozens of small ships accused of moving drugs through the region.

But the first signs of Operation Absolute Resolve appeared in the skies. More than 150 aircraft, including bombers, fighters and surveillance planes, were ultimately involved throughout the night, U.S. officials said.

“It was very difficult, extremely difficult—the whole maneuver, the landings, the number of planes,” Trump told Fox News. “We had a fighter for every possible situation.”

Around 02:00 local time, loud explosions were heard in Caracas, and plumes of smoke rose above the city. “I heard a big sound, a loud bang,” reporter Ana Vanessa Herrero told the BBC. “He moved all the windows. Immediately after that, I saw a huge cloud of smoke that almost blocked my entire view.”

“Planes and helicopters were flying all over the city,” she said.

Soon, videos showing numerous planes in the sky began to circulate widely on social media, as well as others showing the apparent aftermath of the explosions. One showed a convoy of helicopters flying at low altitude over Caracas as smoke rose from apparent explosions.

“We woke up at about 01:55 to the roar of explosions and the noise of planes flying over Caracas,” said one of the witnesses. Daniela, told the BBC. “Everything was plunged into absolute darkness, illuminated only by the flashes of nearby explosions.”

“The neighbors were chatting in the condominium group chat, everyone was confused and didn’t know what was going on. [and] scared by the explosions,” she said.

BBC Verify examined a number of videos showing explosions, fire and smoke around Caracas to pinpoint which sites were attacked.

So far it has confirmed five locations, including the air base of Generalissimo Francisco de Miranda, the airfield known as La Carlota, and the port of La Guaira, Caracas' main link to the Caribbean.

Some of the U.S. strikes targeted air defense systems and other military targets, officials said. Trump also suggested that the US cut off power in Caracas before the mission, although he did not specify how.

“The lights in Caracas were mostly turned off because of our particular experience,” he said. “It was dark and it was deadly.”

“They knew we were coming”

As strikes erupted around Caracas, American troops forced their way into the city. They included members of the elite Delta Force, the top special missions unit of the US military, sources told BBC US partner CBS. They were heavily armed and carried a blowtorch in case they had to break through the metal doors of Maduro's hideout.

According to General Kane, troops arrived at Maduro's location shortly after the strikes began at 02:01 local time. Trump described the shelter as a heavily fortified military “fortress” in the center of Caracas. “They were ready and waiting for us. They knew we were coming,” he said.

Upon arrival, the troops caught fire and one of the American helicopters was shot down but was still able to fly. “The interdiction team descended into Maduro territory and acted with speed, precision and discipline,” General Kane said.

“They just broke in, and they broke into places that really couldn't be broken into, you know, steel doors that were put there for that very reason,” Trump said.

It was only during the operation, which also saw the arrest of Maduro's wife, Cilia Flores, that Secretary Rubio began notifying lawmakers of the action, a decision that has since angered some members of Congress.

“Let me be clear: Nicolas Maduro is an illegitimate dictator. But taking military action without congressional authorization and without a credible plan for how to proceed is reckless,” said top Democrat Chuck Schumer, the party's Senate leader.

Notifying Congress in advance would have jeopardized the mission, Rubio told reporters during a news conference Saturday. “Congress has a tendency to leak information,” Trump added. “That wouldn't be good.”

As elite U.S. troops swarmed into Maduro's compound, Trump said the Venezuelan president, who has reportedly increased his reliance on Cuban bodyguards in recent months, tried to flee to a safe room. “He was trying to get to safety, but it wasn't safe because we would have blown the door open in about 47 seconds,” he said.

“He got to the door. He couldn't shut it down,” Trump said. “He got screwed so quickly that he didn’t even get into it.” [room]”

Asked whether the US could have killed Maduro, the authoritarian leader who took over the presidency in 2013, if he had resisted arrest, Trump said: “It could have happened.” According to him, on the American side, “a few guys got hurt,” but none of the American troops died. Venezuelan authorities have not confirmed any casualties.

The US previously offered a $50 million reward for information leading to Maduro's arrest. But by 04:20 local time on Saturday, the helicopters had left Venezuelan territory with Maduro and his wife on board, who were in Justice Department custody and headed eventually to New York, where they are expected to face criminal charges.

Almost exactly an hour later, Trump announced the news of his detention to the world. “Maduro and his wife will soon face the full might of American justice,” he said.

With additional reporting by Cristobal Vazquez