American officials state their armed forces mission aimed at apprehending the South American nation's president required months of careful preparation, however when the US President gave the order to commence, the mission dubbed "Absolute Resolve" concluded after about 150 minutes.
The shocking early-morning strike this past weekend represented an unprecedented incident in modern politics and resulted in the detention for Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores de Maduro.
Seized by soldiers from a top-tier American military force as they attempted to escape into a fortified panic room, the two are now being held in a detention centre within New York City and face drug trafficking and terrorism indictments.
At sunrise on Saturday, the scale of the military operation in Caracas, the nation's primary city, was clear.
Images of the vast military base, an enormous army installation where senior leadership live, show destroyed structures as well as charred, smoking cars.
The location was this compound where Maduro and his wife were captured, a senior political figure Nahum Fernández reported.
"Operation Absolute Resolve" began amid reports of explosions around 02:00 in Caracas (6:00 Greenwich Mean Time).
The US disabled electricity to the city, the President later described, describing it as pitch black and dangerous.
The goal was to disable the nation's air defense systems and open up the way for American assault helicopters to get to Fuerte Tiuna.
"We assessed that we had maintained totally the element of surprise", the top general commented.
Strike locations encompassed the base, a port and an airport. Pictures show the complex on fire, with massive fires seen for miles.
Venezuelans have described how US military helicopters flew low above the city, en route to the military base.
A number of the aircraft were shot at, but were still able to fly, military leaders said.
There was a lot of gunfire," the President noted.
Once on the ground, troops from an elite special operations unit, moved quickly.
They gained access to the compound at 02:01 local time, and the presidential couple "gave up" without resistance, according to accounts.
However, more details emerged. The Maduros tried to escape into a secure location, described as a heavily fortified bunker.
The secure room is all steel, and he failed to get to the door because our guys were too quick.
"It was a very thick entryway, a very heavy door," Trump informed the media. He reached to the door. He was unable to close it."
However, even assuming they had managed to get into the safe room, troops could have blown it open in approximately "under a minute."
Currently under American detention, Nicolás Maduro and his wife were transported approximately 2,100 miles, to Manhattan.
They were taken by air from the capital by helicopter, and taken to a US warship, a naval vessel stationed off the coast. The team was back "over the water" by 04:29.
Aboard the vessel that an iconic image from the entire mission emerged - the president in handcuffs, wearing ear protectors and darkened eyewear resembling dark sunglasses.
After leaving the ship, he was first flown at the American naval installation in Cuba.
The Maduros then traveled on a government plane to Stewart Air National Guard Base in New York, and then via helicopter into New York City.
That same day, a video emerged showing the detainee at the federal drug agency's headquarters in the city.
He and Cilia Flores are now detained at a federal holding facility in the city.
They face charges including planning narco-terrorism and import cocaine, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the US.
They are set to encounter the full wrath of American justice on American soil within US courtrooms," the Attorney General declared.
Video shows Maduro's arrival in US and journey to detention.
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