Maduro flown to New York in US custody: White House shares 'perp walk' footage

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, arrived in New York on Sunday after being flown to the United States following their overnight capture in Caracas. Shortly after their arrival, the White House Rapid Response team shared a video it described as a "perp walked." In the video, Maduro was seen walking accompanied by officials from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Separate footage was also circulated by investor Collin Rugg, showing Maduro in the custody of US enforcement officials. The video and images show several law enforcement officers in dark tactical gear escorting a handcuffed Maduro, dressed in a blue tracksuit, along what appeared to be an airport tarmac or similar transit area.

Maduro and Flores were captured overnight from their home in Caracas and transported to the USS Iwo Jima warship before being flown to New York to face criminal charges. The couple could be arraigned as soon as Monday, two sources told CBS News.

Maduro and Flores are expected to be taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal facility in Brooklyn, to be housed. The Metropolitan Detention Center is one of the few detention centers in the United States with the capacity to hold high-security defendants.

In a superseding indictment filed in the Southern District of New York against Maduro, members of his family and his cabinet, the US has accused the Venezuelan leader of conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism and conspiracy to import cocaine. He is also accused of possession of and conspiracy to possess "Machineguns and Destructive Devices," according to the indictment unsealed on Saturday.

The charges were announced by US Attorney General Pam Bondi, who said: "They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts."

The charges outlined in the newly unsealed filing appear to mirror those brought against Maduro and several of his key aides in a 2020 indictment, keeping intact the core allegations that US prosecutors have pursued against the Venezuelan leader for several years.