WASHINGTON — U.S. forces conducted what the Trump administration called a “large-scale strike” across Caracas on Jan. 3, 2026, capturing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and placing them aboard a U.S. warship bound for New York to face criminal charges. Attorney General Pam Bondi said both had been indicted in the Southern District of New York on charges related to a narco-terrorism conspiracy. The operation ended months of U.S. military escalation that included more than 35 strikes against alleged drug-smuggling vessels in Caribbean and Pacific waters, killing at least 115 people, according to administration announcements.
The seizure of a sitting head of state by U.S. military forces, carried out without prior congressional authorization, capped months of military escalation that drew sustained challenge from Democratic lawmakers, human rights organizations, and the United Nations over the scope of executive war-making authority.
The Charges
Bondi said Maduro was accused of leading “a corrupt, illegitimate government that, for decades, has leveraged government power to protect and promote illegal activity, including drug trafficking.” Venezuela’s government called the strike an “imperialist attack” and urged citizens to take to the streets.
The Military Buildup
The operation followed a buildup that began in August 2025, when the U.S. deployed three guided-missile destroyers to waters off Venezuela. The naval force grew within weeks to include three amphibious assault ships and other vessels, carrying about 6,000 sailors and Marines, along with F-35 fighter jets deployed to Puerto Rico and a submarine carrying cruise missiles operating off South America.
On Nov. 16, the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier arrived in the Caribbean, bringing total U.S. forces in the region to about 12,000 on nearly a dozen Navy ships. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called the operation “Operation Southern Spear.”
An Oct. 2 administration memo obtained by the Associated Press said Trump had declared drug cartels unlawful combatants and announced the U.S. was in “armed conflict” with them — language that drew criticism from some lawmakers, including Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky.
The Strikes
The first strike came Sept. 2, when Trump said U.S. forces destroyed a vessel he said was operated by Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan street gang, killing 11 people. Over the following months, the military carried out at least 34 additional strikes against vessels accused of carrying drugs in Caribbean and eastern Pacific waters. The targeting area later expanded from the Caribbean to the eastern Pacific, where much of cocaine from major producers is smuggled.
The U.S. also seized oil tankers off Venezuela’s coast. On Dec. 10, officials seized a tanker carrying about 2 million barrels of heavy crude. Bondi said the vessel was involved in “an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations.” Venezuela’s government called the seizure “a blatant theft and an act of international piracy.”
Congressional Resistance
Democratic senators said in September that the administration had provided “no legitimate legal justification” for the first strike. Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the U.S. military was not “empowered to hunt down suspected criminals and kill them without trial.”
Senate Republicans voted twice to block legislation that would have required the president to seek congressional authorization before further strikes — once in October and again in November, when the chamber also rejected a war powers resolution that would have prohibited strikes in or near Venezuela without approval from Congress. House Republicans rejected similar Democratic-backed resolutions in December.
Senate Intelligence Committee ranking member Mark Warner said in late October that the administration had briefed Republicans, but not Democrats, on the boat strikes.
UN Condemnation
On Oct. 31, U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk called for an investigation into the strikes in what appeared to be the first condemnation of its kind from a U.N. organization. His spokeswoman, Ravina Shamdasani, relayed his message at a briefing: “The U.S. must halt such attacks and take all measures necessary to prevent the extrajudicial killing of people aboard these boats.”
The Sept. 2 Strike Controversy
Classified briefings began at the Capitol on Dec. 4 after reports that a commander had ordered a follow-on attack killing the survivors of the first strike. Rep. Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, described the scene from video shown at those briefings: the victims were “basically two shirtless people clinging to the bow of a capsized and inoperable boat, drifting in the water — until the missiles come and kill them.”
Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas said the admiral who testified, Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley, “was very clear that he was given no such order, to give no quarter or to kill them all.” Hegseth said in December that the Pentagon would not publicly release unedited video of the Sept. 2 strike.
The Navy admiral who had oversaw military operations in the region, Adm. Alvin Holsey, announced in October that he would retire in December — an unusually early departure from a posting that typically lasts three to four years.
CIA Operations on Venezuelan Soil
The CIA conducted a drone strike on Dec. 30 at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels, according to two people familiar with details of the classified operation who requested anonymity to discuss it. It was the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the U.S. began strikes in September. Venezuelan officials did not acknowledge the strike.
Trump confirmed on Dec. 29 that the U.S. had struck a facility where boats accused of carrying drugs “load up,” but declined to say whether the CIA or the military carried out the strike or confirm it occurred in Venezuela.
Venezuela’s Response and Background Disputes
Maduro, in a state television interview that aired on New Year’s Day, said Venezuela was open to negotiating an agreement with the United States to combat drug trafficking. He declined to comment on the CIA-led strike and said the U.S. wanted to force a government change in Venezuela and gain access to its oil reserves.
Trump had suggested in November that talks with Venezuela were possible, saying the U.S. “may be having some discussions” with Maduro. “I’ll talk to anybody,” Trump said. “We’ll see what happens.”
U.S. intelligence agencies disputed Trump’s central claim that Maduro’s administration was working with Tren de Aragua and orchestrating drug trafficking and illegal immigration into the United States, according to the Associated Press. The administration had formally designated Tren de Aragua and seven other Latin American crime organizations as foreign terrorist organizations in February 2025 — a label normally reserved for groups such as al-Qaida or the Islamic State that use violence for political ends rather than for profit.