Cartel de los Soles

A Venezuela-based narco-trafficking network embedded in the country's military and government, named for the sun insignias on Venezuelan officers' uniforms. - Designated FTO by US State Department in November 2025

At 2 a.m. on January 3, Delta Force operators dragged Nicolás Maduro and his wife from their bedroom in Caracas. Seven explosions rocked Venezuela's capital as US special forces helicopters evacuated the captured president to the USS Iwo Jima, bound for New York to face narco-terrorism charges. By Saturday afternoon, Maduro arrived at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn—the first American military capture of a sitting head of state since Manuel Noriega in 1989. Venezuela's Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello announced on January 7 that 100 people were killed in the operation, including Venezuelan military personnel, 32 Cuban forces, and civilians. Two US personnel were injured and one helicopter was hit. On January 5, Maduro and Flores pleaded not guilty before Judge Alvin Hellerstein, declaring 'I am innocent' and 'I am still the president of my country,' with their next court date set for March 17. On January 13, the Justice Department released a previously classified memo concluding the president possessed constitutional authority to order the military operation. By January 29, Venezuela's military and police formally pledged loyalty to interim President Delcy Rodríguez at a ceremony in Caracas.

Updated Jan 31

A narco-trafficking network embedded in Venezuela's Armed Forces, named for the sun epaulettes worn by high-ranking officers. - Alleged Venezuelan military drug-trafficking network led by Maduro

Delta Force dragged Nicolás Maduro from his bedroom at 2 AM on January 3, threw him on a helicopter, and flew him to the USS Iwo Jima bound for Manhattan. The Venezuelan president now faces narco-terrorism charges in the same courthouse that convicted El Chapo. His wife Cilia Flores—indicted for the first time—sits in the cell next to him with fractured ribs and head injuries from the raid. On January 5, both pleaded not guilty. Maduro told the judge he remains Venezuela's president and declared himself a 'prisoner of war.'

Updated Jan 5