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Maduro brought for Manhattan court appearance in helicopter, pics emerge
DEA agents escort captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
Several images have emerged showing Venezuela’s seized president Nicolás Maduro being transferred under heavy security to a New York court.
In some photographs, Maduro is seen in handcuffs and escorted by armed officers alongside his wife, Cilia Flores. The couple are facing multiple charges, including drug trafficking and weapons-related offences.
Other images show DEA agents escorting the “captured” President and his wife off a helicopter as he is taken to the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse in Manhattan for his initial court appearance.
Maduro is facing US federal charges, including narco-terrorism, conspiracy, drug trafficking and money laundering, in New York City.
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Additional photographs from the transfer show a motorcade carrying the ousted Venezuelan President arriving at a federal court in New York on Monday.
Separate images also capture Maduro arriving at the Wall Street heliport ahead of his appearance in federal court.
Meanwhile, US president Donald Trump shared what he described as the first image of Maduro following his capture by US authorities. The photograph was taken aboard the USS Iwo Jima as Maduro was being transported to New York City for indictment.
In the image posted on Truth Social, Maduro is seen blindfolded, wearing soundproof headphones and handcuffs, and holding a plastic water bottle.
He is dressed in a Nike sweatsuit while standing on the US Navy’s Iwo Jima en route to New York, where he faces prosecution on narco-terrorism charges, according to the New York Post.
A law enforcement officer, mostly cropped out of the frame, appears to be holding his arm.
What happened?
The couple were moved under armed guard early Monday from the Brooklyn jail where they had been detained to a courthouse in Manhattan.
A motorcade carrying Maduro left the jail around 7:15 a.m. and headed to a nearby athletic field, where he slowly walked to a waiting helicopter.
The aircraft then flew across New York Harbor and landed at a Manhattan heliport, where a limping Maduro was transferred into an armored vehicle.
Minutes later, the law enforcement convoy entered a garage at the courthouse complex.
