Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI:Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro has been locked in a notorious federal jail in New York after his capture by the US forces at a military base in his country, from where he had been taunting President Donald Trump. As he was escorted into the local office of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) on January 3 night before being jailed, he said sarcastically, looking at the camera, “Good night. Happy New Year”.
Maduro, once the unquestioned ruler of the oil-rich South American nation, in the video released by the White House, was in a brown uniform, manacled and clutching a water bottle while two DEA officers held him on either side by his elbows. Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, who were taken in the early morning raid, landed at the Stewart Air National Guard Base about 100 kilometres from the city, from where they were flown to a heliport in downtown Manhattan near federal offices and courts.
Amid high security, their first stop was the DEA office because of the narco-terrorism charges they face. Next, they were taken to the Metropolitan Detention Centre (MDC) in Brooklyn to await production in the New York federal court, which is expected on January 4. A large crowd gathered near the jail, jeering him and shouting insults.
Maduro, who had a $50 million bounty for his capture, was taken from the Venezuelan military base, Fuerte Tiuna, to the USS Iwo Jima, one of the Navy ships in the armada surrounding Venezuela, before being flown to the US air base. In charges announced by Attorney General Pam Bondi, they are accused of narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, and possession of weapons.
An outstanding indictment issued in 2020 charged them also with heading the drug organisation Cartel de los Soles. Trump left open the possibility of the trial being transferred to Miami, which has the largest population of Venezuelan exiles in the US and the news of his capture was met with jubilation.
