Posted on 01/03/2026 1:17:37 PM PST by DFG
The most senior member of the United States military has offered a grippingly detailed account of how Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was captured.
General John Daniel 'Raizin' Cane, who is Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said 150 US military aircraft stationed across the western hemisphere had waited for weeks for the perfect moment to strike, before it finally arrived on Friday.
Addressing journalists at President Trump's Mar-a-Lago country club in Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday, Cane said preparations to capture Maduro and his wife Cilia began in August 2025 when CIA spies began monitoring the Maduros movements.
Cane said: 'We watched, we waited, we prepared, we remained patient and professional...
'After months of work by our intelligence teammates to find Maduro and understand how he moved, where he lived, where he traveled, what he ate, what he wore, what were his pets.
'In early December our force was set pending a series of aligned events. Key was choosing the right day to minimize the potential for civilian harm and maximize the element of surprise and minimize the harm to the indicted person so, as the president says, they could be brought to justice.'
The optimum moment finally arrived late Friday night, Cane explained, with Trump ordering the mission at 10:46pm ET.
'He said to us "Good luck and God Speed,' Cane recalled. 'Those words were transmitted to the entire joint force.'
Cane then detailed how the 150 aircraft - comprising bombers, fighters, surveillance, intelligence and reconnaissance planes, as well as helicopters and drones, took to the skies from 20 different bases across the West.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
"Military aircraft parked at Jose Aponte de la Torre Airport in Ceiba, Puerto Rico on Saturday. More than 150 planes including fighters, bombers and drones were deployed to guarantee the success of the Maduro mission"
"'The force included F-22s F-35s F-18s EA-18s, B-2s, B-1 bombers and other support aircraft, as well as numerous remotely-operated drones.'"
“The optimum moment finally arrived late Friday night, Cane explained, with Trump ordering the mission at 10:46pm ET.”
Bidumb would have long been asleep.
Incroyable!
Thank you, all of our brave military. Another tyrant bites the dust.
I wonder how many body doubles Maduro used?
Guess he did not have enough.
Bidumb wouldn’t have known it was Friday.
Can you imagine the intelligence that had to be gathered inside of Venezuela? Assets on the ground. I would bet that there were a lot of natives who helped in gathering all that data.
A Federal judge will issue a writ of habeas corpus and dismiss the indictments within 24 hours.
Asinine reporter for the UK Daily Mail calls Pete Hegseth “Secretary of Defense.” This limey butthole apparently did not get the memo; or, more likely, he is being wilfully contemptuous towards the U.S. SECRETARY of WAR.
Wonder who made Venezuela’s air defense system?
lol
Probably quite a few recon/spotters mingled in with all the Venezuelans recently deported.
I know you are half-serious, but Subramanian or even Boasberg (per the latter, assuming ACLU or whatever marxist neogov attempts to take the point for javelin-catching duties, and tries to injunct in DC as well), they are not touching this, lest they set off brief Constitutional crisis that Trump II triumphs easy at SCOTUS.
No, the half-hard part (not referring to Maduro supporters lol) is keeping him alive and not Ceaușescu‘d.
Bravo Zulu guys and gals! No other military in the world could have carried this off.
And it definitley sends a message.
Probably cheaper to use one of these.
By an elderly Trump hating judge. What rotten luck.
Yep, and the judge will order Maduro returned to Venezula within 10 days. This op was all about grabbing some headlines with no possibility of the indictment standing.
*I would bet that there were a lot of natives who helped*
You may be right. One of the surprising elements to me was how the electricity/comm links was shut off to a very specific area of the city as the choppers flew in - pinpoint EMP in action, or substation fairy?
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