Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro is scheduled to appear in federal court at noon Jan. 5 in New York, according to the District Court for the Southern District of New York media office.
Maduro will be arraigned on a four-count indictment charging him with leading a 25-year narco-terrorism conspiracy that included several high-ranking members of his administration.
He will appear before United States District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein in Manhattan.
Maduro and his wife, Cilia Adela Flores de Maduro, were captured at their home on Jan. 3 during a U.S. military attack on Venezuela and brought to the United States.
See moments from Nicolás Maduro’s years of leadership in Venezuela
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The United States captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife in an overnight military operation on Jan. 3, 2026, President Donald Trump said, as explosions rocked Caracas and targets across the country. See Maduro’s years of leadership in photos, beginning here after he was sworn in for a third six-year term, in Caracas, Venezuela, on Jan. 10, 2025.
Maduro was indicted over the weekend on federal charges of narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy and two illegal weapons counts based on allegations he helped ship tons of cocaine to the United States over decades. He arrived in New York late into the evening on Jan. 3 and is being held in a detention facility.
He was charged along with his wife, son and top members of his administration. The indictment also seeks to seize any belongings that resulted from the alleged criminal conspiracy.
President Donald Trump and Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro
President Donald Trump, who ordered the military entry into Venezuela to arrest the president and his wife, vowed the United States would “run” the South American country until a democratic transition could occur.
“We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Trump said at a press conference from his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida. “It has to be judicious, because that’s what we are all about.”
However, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told NBC’s Meet the Press on Jan. 4, “It’s not running it. It’s running policy.” He also said holding elections could take more than a month.
More: Rubio says US ‘not running’ Venezuela after Maduro capture: Live updates.
“We want Venezuela to move in a certain direction, because not only do we think it’s good for the people of Venezuela, it’s in our national interest,” he said.
The operation marked a dramatic escalation of Trump‘s stance toward Venezuela after months of rising tensions, threats and oil tanker seizures.
Sarah D. Wire covers national politics for USA TODAY and can be reached at swire@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro to appear in Manhattan federal court Jan. 5