On the 3rd (local time), after the United States carried out airstrikes on Venezuela and captured President Nicolás Maduro, the world's attention turned to the U.S. military operation.
The operation unfolded in a blitz. After U.S. President Donald Trump issued the final order to execute, it took only 4 hours and 43 minutes for U.S. forces to arrest Maduro. It was just 5 minutes after they entered the hideout where Maduro was sheltering. Moreover, while more than 80 people on the Venezuelan side, including Maduro's bodyguards, were killed, the United States said there were zero American casualties. How exactly did this movie-like operation take place?
◇ Planned since August, with "house mock-up" drills for real-world practice
According to Dan Caine, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), on the 3rd, the operation mobilized the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Space Defense Force, launching more than 150 bombers, fighter jets, reconnaissance planes, helicopters and drones simultaneously from more than 20 bases across the United States and the Western Hemisphere. U.S. Cyber Command and Space Command disabled Venezuela's air defenses, and it is reported that lighting across Caracas was also cut.
Helicopters carrying troops flew at low altitude about 30 meters above the water to avoid detection, arrived at Maduro's residence at 1:01 a.m., and reportedly arrested President Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in about five minutes. It was about two hours and 30 minutes after the operation began, and the couple were immediately transferred to a U.S. Navy vessel in the Caribbean Sea, then flown to New York on a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) charter.
The operation underwent months of meticulous preparation. According to Reuters, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) deployed an investigative team to Venezuela in August and offered a $50 million (about 72.36 billion won) reward to informants while gathering intelligence on President Maduro. Starting in late August, the U.S. military also massed 12 ships in the Caribbean, built a mock-up of Maduro's house, and refined the plan by rehearsing raid scenarios.
At a briefing, Caine, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), said, "For months, American intelligence officers exhaustively collected information on Maduro's residence, travel methods, routes, eating habits, clothing characteristics, and even pets," adding, "The key was choosing the (attack) date, selecting one that would maximize the element of surprise while minimizing civilian harm." To that end, Caine said, a joint operation by intelligence agencies including the CIA, the National Security Agency (NSA) and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) proved effective.
◇ "Warriors in the dark" with troop size and selection process kept top secret
According to the New York Times (NYT) and the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), the units deployed were the Army's Delta Force and the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, known as the "Night Stalkers."
Formed in 1977, Delta Force's official name is the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment–Delta (1st SFOD-D). It is an elite special operations unit within the U.S. military with the highest levels of security and combat capability, and along with the Navy SEALs—famed for the 2011 killing of Osama bin Laden—it is regarded as core personnel of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). The Night Stalkers are known to have conducted numerous low-altitude aviation missions alongside Delta Force and the Navy SEALs.
Delta Force has handled high-risk missions such as counterterrorism operations, hostage rescues, and the capture or elimination of high-value targets. It was deployed in major operations including the 1980 Iran U.S. Embassy hostage rescue attempt, the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu, and supporting the 2003 capture of Saddam Hussein during the Iraq War. While details of its troop size and selection process are top secret, it is known that only a small number of former Navy SEALs and Army Rangers apply, and roughly 10% of them are ultimately selected.