UPDATE 3 - Trump says Venezuela's Maduro captured, flown out of country after 'large scale' US strikes

ADDS REMARKS BY US SECRETARY OF STATE

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Washington carried out a "large scale strike" against Venezuela, and that President Nicolas Maduro and his wife have been captured and flown out of the country.

"The United States of America has successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country," Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

Trump said the operation was conducted “in conjunction with U.S. law enforcement."

He said additional details would be released later, and a news conference would be held at 11 am at his Mar-a-Lago residence in the US state of Florida.

Separately, in a brief phone interview with the New York Times (NYT), Trump hailed the success of the strike.

“A lot of good planning and lot of great, great troops and great people,” Trump was quoted as saying by the NYT.

"It was a brilliant operation, actually," he added.

Asked if he had sought congressional authority for the operation or what is next for Venezuela, Trump said he would address those matters during the news conference.

- Maduro to 'finally face justice for his crimes'

US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said Maduro will "finally face justice for his crimes."

"A new dawn for Venezuela! The tyrant is gone. He will now—finally—face justice for his crimes," he said on US social media company X.

The attacks came after months of tension as the US accused Maduro of being involved in drug trafficking.

The US Army's Delta Force, an elite special forces unit, carried out the operation to capture Maduro, CBS News reported, citing officials.

US Sen. Mike Lee said Secretary of State Marco Rubio informed him that Maduro has been arrested to stand trial on criminal charges in the US.

Lee said Rubio "anticipates no further action in Venezuela now that Maduro is in U.S. custody"

Meanwhile, Venezuela's Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said they are "unaware" of the whereabouts of Maduro, demanding from Trump "proof of life of President Maduro."

Following the attack, Rubio posted the image of an earlier message of his on X, calling Maduro the head of a "narco-terror organization."

"Maduro is not the president of Venezuela and his regime is not the legitimate government. Maduro is the head of the Cartel de Los Soles, a narco-terror organization which has taken possession of a country. And he is under indictment for pushing drugs into the United States," he said.

In November, the US formally designated the Venezuela-based Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist organization. "I hereby designate the aforementioned organization and its respective aliases as a Foreign Terrorist Organization," Rubio had said in a document published in the country's Federal Register.