First visuals have emerged showing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro inside a US Drug Enforcement Administration office in New York, days after his dramatic capture in a pre-dawn US operation in Caracas.

A new video has emerged showing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro inside the headquarters of the Drug Enforcement Administration in New York, marking the first visual confirmation of his presence in U.S. custody following his dramatic capture.
The footage, posted by Rapid Response 47 — the official White House rapid response account — shows Maduro being escorted by DEA officers through a hallway inside the agency’s New York division office in lower Manhattan.
The 63-year-old leader is seen handcuffed, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, and walking past a blue-carpeted corridor labelled “DEA NYD,” in what officials described as a standard custodial transfer.
Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured during a surprise pre-dawn raid carried out by U.S. special forces in Caracas early Saturday, according to US officials. Venezuelan ruling party leaders said the couple were taken from their residence inside the high-security Fort Tiuna military compound, where they were reportedly sleeping at the time of the operation.
The capture followed what the United States described as a large-scale military strike targeting key sites in Venezuela, triggering explosions across Caracas and neighbouring regions.
Maduro was flown out of the country within hours and brought to New York City, where he is expected to face long-standing federal charges related to narcotics trafficking and alleged narco-terrorism conspiracies.
The release of the video has intensified global attention on the case, coming amid heightened tensions in Venezuela, where residents remain on high alert, stocking up on food and fuel amid fears of further instability. International reactions remain sharply divided, with some leaders welcoming the development and others warning it sets a dangerous precedent under international law.
With the first images now public, focus is shifting to the legal proceedings ahead — and the wider geopolitical fallout of one of the most extraordinary captures of a sitting head of state in recent history
Published: 04 Jan 2026, 09:17 am IST
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