What you need to know

New York City is bracing for another massive federal trial as ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro traveled to the city Saturday to be arrested, jailed and ultimately brought to trial on drug trafficking and terrorism charges, officials said.

Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were aboard the USS Iwo Jima heading to New York earlier Saturday after being boarded from their presidential palace in Caracas, the South American country’s capital, in a precision military operation, President Trump announced at a news conference in Mar-a-Lago, Florida.

Sources said he was expected to arrive in the city late this afternoon for processing at DEA headquarters.

After being incarcerated, Maduro will likely head to Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center — where UnitedHealthcare CEO Luigi Mangione’s killer is currently in custody and where rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs and degenerate billionaire and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, have been detained. Sources said they will be housed there until their arraignment, which is expected to take place Monday in lower Manhattan.

Trump would not reveal where Maduro and his wife will be held Saturday, saying only that the Federal Bureau of Prisons will make the decision. He also hinted that the case could be moved from New York to Florida after the indictment.

Maduro and his wife are expected to appear in Manhattan Federal Court as early as Monday to be arraigned on a narcoterrorism indictment that accuses Maduro and his co-conspirators of transporting “thousands of tons of cocaine into the United States.”

“Since his beginnings in the Venezuelan government, (Maduro) has tarnished every public office he has held,” the indictment reads. “As a member of Venezuela’s National Assembly, (he) transported shipments of cocaine under the protection of Venezuelan law enforcement. As Venezuela’s foreign minister, (he) provided Venezuelan diplomatic passports to drug traffickers and facilitated diplomatic cover for planes used by money launderers to repatriate drug proceeds from Mexico to Venezuela.”

U.S. District Court Judge Alvin Hellerstein, a Clinton appointee, will handle Maduro’s case when he goes to trial on the indictment. Last spring, Hallerstein barred the Trump administration from expelling Venezuelans from the United States under the Foreign Enemies Act, which he said had been implemented illegally.

“These people are being kicked out of the country because of their tattoos,” he said at the time.

The actions of the Trump administration have drawn strong criticism from a number of New York elected officials.

“Unilaterally attacking a sovereign nation is an act of war and a violation of federal and international law,” said Mamdani, without sparing Trump, with whom he met a friend after being elected mayor. “This blatant push for regime change not only affects those abroad, it directly affects New Yorkers, including the tens of thousands of Venezuelans who call this city home. »

Governor Hochul called Trump’s decision a “gross abuse of power by acting without congressional approval.”

“New York is home to a vibrant Venezuelan community, and I stand with families here and abroad in their hopes for a better, more stable future,” she wrote on X, adding that “there is no credible threat” to New York in light of Maduro’s invasion and arrival in the city.

Manhattan Rep. Mike Lawler called Maduro’s arrest “a step toward ending the deadly flow of drugs into the United States and ensuring peace and prosperity for all Venezuelans.”

“It is also a stark reminder to terrorists, dictators and drug lords around the world that there is no safe haven,” he said on social media. “This is what the doctrine of peace through strength looks like. »

Demonstrators were expected to march to Times Square Saturday afternoon to protest Trump’s military action, which the website Answercoalition.org called an “all-out war with Venezuela.”

Trump said during his press conference that the United States would rule Venezuela until there was a “safe, appropriate and wise transition” and that American oil companies would be brought in to exploit the country’s oil fields.

Although he was removed from office, Maduro remained in power, where he became the country’s “now de facto leader” who now “sits atop a corrupt and illegitimate government that for decades exploited government power to protect and promote illegal activities, including drug trafficking,” the indictment states.

Venezuelans living in New York were stunned to learn of the military action.

Ivo Diaz, owner of Casa Ora and Lulla’s Bakery in East Williamsburg, found himself dealing with “mixed emotions.”

“I’m so excited to hear that we are finally reaching this point of freedom where we can hopefully return home,” said Ivo, who has not returned to Venezuela in more than two decades. “Some will take longer than others, but that’s pretty much the feeling we have here.”

Ivo, 39, heard from family and friends in Venezuela after the raid on the presidential palace. Many are sheltering at home, he was told.

“Everyone is staying at home, but everything seems pretty calm right now,” he said. “Everyone is waiting and expecting to see what’s next.”

“The time we have (some of the other leaders), that’s the time we’re going to pretty much celebrate,” he said. “We want to rebuild our country.”

When he learned that the United States was bombing Caracas, Casa Ora deputy chief Diego Farias contacted his father, who lives in the country’s capital near Maduro’s home.

“He felt it,” Farias, 28, said of the bombing. “He saw it too. He woke up because of the boom. The bombs fell and it was so loud he said he didn’t know how the windows didn’t shatter. Every window in the house was shaking.”

Yet his father was “calm” when telling Farias what had happened.

“I feel the vibe,” the sous chef said. “There is happiness in the region, but there is (also) now a power vacuum and, unfortunately, there are still corrupt people in the government who are still there. A lot of people don’t know what’s going on. People are trying to go to the supermarkets, to get food in case something else happens.”

“I hope they surrender or capture them or something happens and it’s a peaceful resolution,” he said. “I’m not going to shout that Venezuela is free until they’re totally gone.”

“I’m happy in the sense that I know people are relived,” he added. “There is still a lot to do.”

With Rocco Parascandola