A daring U.S. operation to remove Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro ended in a fierce final firefight that exposed U.S. military helicopters to extraordinary levels of danger as they descended into a heavily fortified compound in Caracas, according to a key witness video analyzed by CNN.
CNN reconstructed the Jan. 3 mission, analyzing more than 50 videos and images taken by witnesses and mapping the flight path of the U.S. military helicopter to focus on the critical final moments. They were deployed at a facility within the Fort Tiuna military complex, a location identified by CNN as Maduro’s likely escape point.
Footage showed that in the moments leading up to its descent into the area, there was heavy crossfire between American attack planes hovering above and Venezuelan air defenses.
According to a CNN analysis, there was a critical two-minute window between the time the transport helicopter landed on the ground and the time it took off, and the crossfire continued unabated.
Experts said this was the most dangerous period of the entire operation, when the planes were moving slowly and at low altitudes, making them easy targets for simple weapons. This trend was further reinforced by the fact that the US military chose the most dangerous landing site, precisely Maduro’s compound.
‘Organized chaos’: Watch CNN’s forensic reconstruction of the US raid to capture Maduro
The assault on Fort Tiuna, one of Venezuela’s largest military complexes, had been prepared for some time.
The U.S. offensive began in the early hours of January 3, with a series of attacks hitting targets across the country. Radar, communications and air defense infrastructure were destroyed, clearing the way for special operations helicopters, according to a CNN review of video and satellite imagery.
More than 150 aircraft, including bombers, fighters, intelligence and surveillance platforms, were launched from 20 bases on land and sea, according to Air Force Gen. Dan Cain, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Witnesses said they heard an explosion around 1:30 a.m. local time in the coastal city of Higuerote, about 80 miles east of Caracas.
CNN has located video of the first of these attacks on Higuerote Airport, home to Venezuela’s air defense system, which includes the Russian-made Buk-M2 surface-to-air missile system, which is designed to target aircraft.
A video shared by a local journalist as night fell also showed the Buk-M2 launcher still smoldering.
“I heard a whistling sound in the air, like something falling, and then there was an explosion,” one Higuerote resident told CNN. The witness, who spoke anonymously due to safety concerns, said the explosion shook the apartment’s windows.
Arms Research Service Director NR Jenzen Jones told CNN that footage from Higuerote suggests the use of a one-way attack drone. These could include “low-cost unmanned combat strike systems,” which the U.S. military has been rapidly developing since similar technology proliferated during Russia’s war with Ukraine.
At 1:58 a.m. over Caracas, two U.S. military MH-47 Chinook transport helicopters were seen flying low toward Fort Tiuna, avoiding a narrow valley where the military base is located, according to eyewitness video.
Wes Bryant, a retired U.S. Air Force sergeant major and former special operations tactical air controller, described the U.S. strategy of preemptively attacking an area before helicopters touch the ground as “organized chaos.”
Footage shows at least two helicopters landing on the site amid fire from the ground and leaving shortly after. The planes formed part of the first phase of the operation, which was to drop off U.S. forces near President Maduro’s compound and engage ground forces, military experts told CNN.
Kaine later said that U.S. forces first arrived at Maduro’s compound at 2:01 a.m.
U.S. forces then searched the compound and detained the Venezuelan leader.
CNN synchronized 10 additional six-minute videos showing the second phase of the mission. They show U.S. attack helicopters providing overhead protective cover and battling Venezuelan air defenses as U.S. transport helicopters remove Mr. Maduro and the forces that captured him from the compound.
The element of surprise was eliminated, and the retreating forces survived a fierce firefight between U.S. attack helicopters and Venezuelan troops.
Gunshots continue to be heard in the video. Weapons experts say the sound is consistent with the sound of a 30-millimeter cannon fired by an American Direct Action Penetrator (DAP) MH-60 Black Hawks attack helicopter.
Then, anti-aircraft fire, likely in retaliation, raged through the night as attack helicopters continued firing.
Twenty seconds later, a video spotted by online researcher MPGeoint and synchronized by CNN shows a US transport helicopter descending towards Maduro’s fortified compound.
Military experts say this was its weakest point.
“The first minute of any (helicopter) landing and the first minute of takeoff are the most vulnerable,” Bryant explained.
Stephen Watkins, an open-source research consultant who tracks aircraft, told CNN that moving targets are difficult to attack, in part because of military countermeasures, but once a helicopter lands, it becomes a “sitting duck.”
Being closer to the ground makes you more vulnerable to attack, Jenzen-Jones added.
“During takeoff and landing, helicopters fly slowly, hovering in place, and naturally close to the ground. This makes them easy targets for many weapons, especially simple direct-fire weapons like guns,” he said.
Footage then revealed what appeared to be Mr. Maduro’s removal from Venezuelan soil. One minute and 44 seconds after the helicopter was confirmed to have landed, video shows a plume of dust rising just outside the fort compound, a volley of rockets fired and a Chinook helicopter taking off. About 20 seconds later, another vehicle follows.
Bryant reflected on this phase of the mission: “One of the main tactics we use, which is a tenet of American special operations, is speed, surprise, and violent action.”
One of the transport helicopters is seen leaving the Fort Tiuna area, flying without lights, quickly gaining altitude, hugging a nearby hillside and disappearing into the darkness.
The shooting and explosions in Caracas had stopped by 3 a.m., witnesses told CNN. After an hour, the sound of planes had completely disappeared from the city, he said.
U.S. forces took off from Venezuelan airspace around 4:29 a.m., Cain said. Video recorded at 4 a.m. shows five Chinooks and seven Black Hawks flying east toward Higuerote, according to a witness. Experts told CNN that the planes may have been guarding the route taken by Maduro’s helicopter as he left the scene.
The exact location within the Tiuna fortress where Mr. Maduro was captured, and the details of what happened when U.S. troops landed inside, have not been fully disclosed.
CNN analysis now provides some clues as to where President Maduro was based, based on past social media posts that match where US transport helicopters have landed and taken off.
The heavily fortified nature of the site (naturally protected by steep hills on three sides, with high privacy walls and multiple security checkpoints) shows how dangerous it would have been for American troops to land there. On-site housing amenities, including a large pool and patio, also serve as a reminder of the extraordinary nature of this mission to capture the presidential couple at home.
In July 2024, Maduro posted a video of himself drinking coffee with his wife, Cilia Flores, under a pergola on their patio and showing a video set to campaign music. CNN geolocated the location as the garden of a large house completed in 2016 at the far end of the property. Satellite images show the pergola was replaced last year with a large white structure.
In May and July 2025, Maduro posted two additional videos showing himself drinking coffee again with his wife and others in the same off-site parking lot. The video was first located by Arrecho, a pseudonymous open source researcher.
Satellite images taken after the attack show significant damage from explosions elsewhere at the site.
The complex US operation involved US personnel and equipment across air, land and sea, including Delta Force operators and FBI units entering from multiple landing zones, sources told CNN. But the key moments that separated Mr. Maduro from Caracas occurred within a very short time frame.
“One small factor could have turned this situation around,” Bryant said.
Venezuelan authorities later announced that 100 people had been killed in the operation, while Cuban authorities separately announced that 32 Cubans from the presidential guard were killed. The Trump administration said no American lives were lost.
Nevertheless, the dangers were flagged by U.S. officials in a Department of Justice document dated Dec. 23 that was made public after the raid. The memo warned that U.S. forces were expected to encounter “significant resistance” including dozens of anti-aircraft batteries capable of shooting down the helicopter.
“This is a potentially very catastrophic attack,” President Donald Trump said at a news conference after the operation. “We could have lost a lot of people last night,” he added.
In response to CNN’s findings, U.S. Southern Command said it had nothing to add beyond Kaine’s comments.
Despite the mission’s success, Bryant also called attention to the level of risk facing U.S. forces, calling the operation a “ticking time bomb.”
“It’s not an American capability, it’s going to penetrate the heart of a sovereign nation, but if it’s comparable, imagine Russia or China going in and trying to kidnap the president of the United States,” Bryant said.
“Given the amount of resistance shown in the footage, in other circumstances the operation may have ended up being impossible.”
credit:
Reporters: Isaac Yee, Avery Schmitz, Thomas Bordeaux, Katie Polgras, Allegra Goodwin, Alfred Meza.
Investigative Video Editor: Mark Barron
Data & Graphics Editor: Lou Robinson
Visual Investigations Supervising Editor: Gianluca Mezzofiore
Senior Investigative Editor: Ed Upright
Photojournalists: Christian Strive and Clayton Nagel
