New York City is bracing for another massive federal trial as deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro made his way to the city Saturday to be booked, locked up and eventually arraigned on narcotic trafficking and terrorism charges, officials said.
Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, earlier Saturday were on the U.S.S. Iwo Jima heading to New York after they were grabbed from their presidential palace in Caracas, the South American country’s capital during a precision military operation, President Trump announced at a press conference in Mar-a-Lago, Fla.
Sources said he was expected to arrive in the city late in the afternoon for processing at DEA headquarters.
After being booked, Maduro will likley head to the Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn — where UnitedHealthcare CEO killer Luigi Mangione is currently in custody and rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs and degenerate billionaire and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell were once held. Sources said they will be housed there until their arraignment, which is likley to take palce Monday in lower Manhattan.
Trump wouldn’t divulge where Maduro and his wife will be held on Saturday, saying simply that the Federal Bureau of Prisons will make the decision. He also hinted the case could be moved from New York to Florida after the indictment.
Maduro and his wife are expected to be at Manhattan Federal Court as early as Monday to be arraigned on a narco-terrorism indictment that accuses Maduro and his co-conspirators of transporting “thousands of tons of cocaine to the United States.”
“Since his early days in Venezuelan government, (Maduro) has tarnished every public office he has held,” the indictment reads. “As a member of Venezuela’s National Assembly, (he’s) moved loads of cocaine under the protection of Venezuelan law enforcement. As Venezuela’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, (he) provided Venezuelan diplomatic passports to drug traffickers and facilitated diplomatic cover for planes used by money launderers to repatriate drug proceeds from Mexico to Venezuela.”
US District Court Judge Alvin Hellerstein, a Clinton appointee, will be handling Maduro’s case when he’s arraigned on the indictment. Last spring, Hallerstein barred the Trump administration from removing Venezuelans from the U.S. under the Alien Enemies Act, which he said had been applied unlawfully.
“These people are being thrown out of the country because of tattoos,” he said at the time.
The Trump administration’s actions drew sharp criticism from a range of New York elected officials.
“Unilaterally attacking a sovereign nation is an act of war and a violation of federal and international law,” Mamdani said, pulling no punches against Trump, who he had a chummy sit down with after being elected Mayor. “This blatant pursuit of regime change doesn’t just affect those abroad, it directly impacts New Yorkers, including tens of thousands of Venezuelans who call this city home.”
Gov. Hochul called Trump’s move a “flagrant abuse of power by acting without congressional approval.”
“New York is home to a vibrant Venezuelan community, and I stand with families here and abroad in their hopes for a better, more stable future,” she wrote on X, adding that “there are no credible threats” to New York in light of the invasion and Maduro being brought to the city.
Manhattan Rep. Mike Lawler called Maduro’s arrest a “step towards ending the deadly flow of drugs into the United States and ensuring peace and prosperity for all Venezuelans.”
“It’s also a stark reminder to terrorists, dictators, and drug lords across the world that there is no safe harbor,” he said on social media. “This is what the doctrine of peace through strength looks like.”
Protesters were expected to head to Times Square Saturday afternoon to protest Trump’s military action, which the website answercoalition.org called an “all-out war with Venezuela.”
Trump said at his press conference that the U.S. will be running Venezuela until there is a “safe, proper and judicious transition” and U.S. oil companies will be brought in to work the country’s oil fields.
While voted out of office, Maduro remained in power, where he became the country’s “now-de facto ruler” who “now sits atop a corrupt, illegitimate government that, for decades, has leveraged government power to protect and promote illegal activity, including drug trafficking,” the indictment reads.
Venezuelans living in New York were stunned to learn about the military action.
Ivo Diaz, owner of Casa Ora and Lulla’s Bakery in East Williamsburg found himself facing “mixed emotions.”
“I’m just so excited to hear the news we’re finally reaching that point of freedom where we can hopefully return back home,” said Ivo, who hasn’t been back to Venezuela in more than two decades. “Some are going to take longer than others, but that’s pretty much what the sentiment that we have here.”
Ivo, 39, has heard from family and friends in Venezuela after the raid on the presidential palace. Many are sheltering in their homes, he was told.
“Everybody is just keeping themselves in their houses, but everything seems pretty calm right now,” he said. “Everybody’s just waiting and expecting to see what’s the next move.”
“The moment we get (some of the other leaders) that’s the moment when we’re pretty much going to celebrate,” he said. “We want to rebuild our country.”
When he heard that the U.S. was bombarding Caracas, Casa Ora sous chef Diego Farias reached out to his father, who lives in the country’s capital near Maduro’s home.
“He felt it,” Farias, 28, said about the bombardment. “He saw it as well. He woke up because of the boom. The bombs fell and it was so loud that he said he doesn’t know how the windows didn’t shatter. Every window in the house was trembling.”
Still, his father was “calm” as he told Farias what happened.
“I feel the vibe,” the sous chef said. “There’s happiness in the area but there’s (also) now a void in power and sadly there’s still some corrupt people in the government that are still there. A lot of people don’t know what’s happening. People are trying to go to supermarkets, get some food in case something else happens.”
“Hopefully they surrender or they capture them or something happens that’s a peaceful resolution,” he said. “I’m not going to yell that Venezuela is free until they are totally gone.”
“I’m happy in the sense that I know people are relived,” he added. “There’s still much to do.”
With Rocco Parascandola
