Nicolas Maduro, clad in prison attire, was ushered into a police SUV this morning as he moved from a New York City detention facility to attend his initial court hearing.

The 63-year-old Venezuelan leader faces charges related to drugs and weapons and is set to appear in court on Monday, following his unexpected capture in Caracas during a U.S. military operation.

Maduro was transported from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn to a nearby helipad. There, he took a brief helicopter ride across the East River, landing at the southern tip of Manhattan.

Upon arrival, he was seen awkwardly exiting the helicopter, shackled, and then transferred into a khaki-colored armored vehicle under the watchful eyes of heavily armed officers.

The detained president was then taken to the Manhattan Federal Court, where his arraignment is scheduled for 12 p.m. ET.

There was no sign of Maduro’s wife Cilia Flores, who was also forcibly taken out of Caracas on Saturday and faces narcotrafficking charges.

Maduro’s lawyers are expected to contest the legality of his arrest, arguing that he is immune from prosecution as a sovereign head of state. 

President Donald Trump has accused Maduro of leading the Cartel de los Soles (Cartel of the Suns), which the president claims flooded the US with cocaine.

Nicolas Maduro has been shuffled into a police SUV this morning, sporting prison garb, as he makes his way from an NYC jail to his first court appearance

Nicolas Maduro is being moved from a prison in Brooklyn ahead of his initial appearance at Daniel Patrick Moynihan courthouse

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro arrives at the Downtown Manhattan Heliport, as he heads towards the Daniel Patrick Manhattan United States Courthouse for an initial appearance

The US seized Maduro and his wife in a military operation Saturday, capturing them in their home on a military base. 

A 25-page indictment made public Saturday accuses Maduro and others of working with drug cartels to facilitate the shipment of thousands of tons of cocaine into the US They could face life in prison if convicted.

It wasn’t clear as of Sunday whether Maduro had hired a US attorney yet.

Maduro and Flores have been under US sanctions for years, making it illegal for any American to take money from them without first securing a license from the Treasury Department.

Maduro, his wife and his son – who remains free – are charged along with Venezuela’s interior and justice minister, a former interior and justice minister and Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, an alleged Tren de Aragua leader who has been criminally charged in another case and remains at large.

Among other things, the indictment accuses Maduro and his wife of ordering kidnappings, beatings and murders of those who owed them drug money or undermined their drug trafficking operation. 

That included a local drug boss’ killing in Caracas, the indictment said.

Maduro’s wife is also accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in 2007 to arrange a meeting between ‘a large-scale drug trafficker’ and the director of Venezuela’s National Anti-Drug Office, resulting in additional monthly bribes, with some of the money going to Maduro’s wife, according to the indictment.

President Nicolas Maduro is moved out of the helicopter at the Downtown Manhattan Helipor

DEA agents wait for the arrival of captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro at the Downtown Manhattan Heliport, ahead of Maduro’s initial appearance at Daniel Patrick Moynihan courthouse in Manhattan on January 5

Maduro is escorted by DEA agents as he heads towards the courthouse in Manhattan for his initial appearance 

Law enforcement officials move captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro at the downtown Manhattan Heliport

While the indictment against Maduro says Venezuelan officials worked directly with the Tren de Aragua gang, a US intelligence assessment published in April, drawing on input from the intelligence community’s 18 agencies, found no coordination between Tren de Aragua and the Venezuelan government. 

Trump said the US would ‘run’ Venezuela temporarily, but Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that it would not govern the country day-to-day other than enforcing an existing ‘oil quarantine.’

Venezuela’s new interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, has demanded that the US return Maduro, who long denied any involvement in drug trafficking – although late Sunday she also struck a more conciliatory tone in a social media post, inviting collaboration with Trump and ‘respectful relations’ with the US.

Before his capture, Maduro and his allies claimed US hostility was motivated by lust for Venezuela’s rich oil and mineral resources.

Trump suggested Sunday that he wants to extend American power further in the western hemisphere.

Speaking aboard Air Force One, he called Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, ‘a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States. And he´s not going to be doing it very long.’

He called on Rodriguez to provide ‘total access’ to her country or face consequences.

Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves, and more Venezuelan crude in the market could exacerbate oversupply concerns and add to recent pressure on prices.

But analysts say that alongside other major questions about the South American country’s future, substantially lifting its oil production will not be easy, quick or cheap. Oil dipped as investors weighed the impact.

The Trump administration says it retains powerful economic leverage by blockading oil tankers from Venezuela. Trump has also threatened additional military attacks if needed.

While there are no known US forces left inside Venezuela, a huge naval presence, including an aircraft carrier, remains off the coast.

Leading opposition figure Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia said that while the US intervention was ‘important’ without the release of political prisoners and acknowledgement that he won the 2024 election, it was simply ‘not enough.’

Details of the US operation were still emerging Monday, with Havana saying 32 Cubans were killed in the attack and Trump adding that Cuba itself was ready to fall after Maduro’s capture.

‘I don’t think we need any action. It looks like it’s going down,’ Trump said.

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency session on Monday at Venezuela’s request. This will provide a platform for international concern over US intentions in the country of around 30 million people.

But what happens next in Venezuela, after a combined quarter century of hard-left rule by Maduro and his late socialist predecessor Hugo Chavez, remains unclear.

A helicopter transports captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, as he heads towards the Daniel Patrick Manhattan United States Courthouse for an initial appearance

Nicolas Maduro (second right) and his wife Cilia Flores (second left)  arrive at the Wall Street Heliport in the New York City

The White House indicated Sunday that it does not want regime change, only Maduro’s removal and a pliant new government – even if it is filled with his former associates.

Anointed by his mentor Hugo Chavez before the latter’s 2013 death, Maduro kept a tight grip on power until his capture by US forces on Saturday.

Maduro ruled alongside Flores and three other powerful figures: Rodriguez, now Venezuela’s interim leader, her brother Jorge, and their rival: hardline Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello.

‘It’s like a club of five,’ a diplomatic source in Caracas told AFP under the condition of anonymity.

The US position leaves the Venezuelan opposition, which the Trump administration says was robbed of victory by Maduro, out in the cold.

Countries such as China, Russia and Iran, which have longstanding ties with Maduro’s government, were quick to condemn the operation. Some US allies, including the EU, expressed alarm.

This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.