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General Dan Razin Caine, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on Saturday (local time) said that "Operation Absolute Resolve" to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife was "discreet, precise".
He said the operation involved months of planning and that all aircraft returned safely after the mission. In a press conference in Florida, Caine said, "This operation, known as Operation Absolute Resolve, was discreet, precise, and the culmination of months of planning and rehearsal, an operation that, frankly, only the United States military could undertake." "At 10:46 pm Eastern time last night, the president ordered the United States military to move forward with this mission. In total, more than 150 aircraft, bombers, fighters, intelligence, reconnaissance, surveillance, rotary wing were in the air last night. One of our aircraft was hit but remained flyable, and as the President said earlier today, all of our aircraft came home and that aircraft remained flyable during the rest of the mission. Maduro and his wife, both indicted, gave up and were taken into custody by the Department of Justice," he said. Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured in Caracas and flown out of the country in a joint operation involving intelligence agencies and US law enforcement. Trump said that Maduro and his wife, who were captured in Caracas during a US military operation, have been indicted on charges of alleged "drug trafficking and narco-terrorism conspiracies" in the Southern District of New York, and will face trial. Trump said, "No nation in the world could achieve what America achieved yesterday or frankly, in just a short period of time. All Venezuelan military capacities were rendered powerless as the men and women of our military, working with US law enforcement, successfully captured Maduro in the dead of night." "It was dark, and it was deadly, but he was captured along with his wife, Cilia Flores, both of whom now face American justice. Maduro and Flores have been indicted in the Southern District of New York," he said. Trump said that Maduro and his wife "will soon face the full might of American justice and stand trial on American soil" for their alleged role in drug trafficking, adding that they are currently being taken to New York, with authorities to decide later whether the trial will be held in New York or Florida. (ANI)
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