Maduro and wife arrive at New York court
New York: Ousted Venezuelan president and his wife arrived at a New York courthouse on Monday (Tuesday AEDT) where they will be indicted.
Nicolás Maduro and Cecilia Flores were handcuffed and surrounded by heavily armoured federal agents and NYPD police officers as they were taken from their prison cells at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn.
They were flown about 9km by helicopter to a helipad in Wall Street, and then transported in an armoured truck the short distance to the court precinct in Lower Manhattan.
Maduro arrives at the Wall Street heliport ahead of his appearance in federal court in New York.Credit: Bloomberg
Maduro arrives at the heliport ahead of his transfer by vehicle to the courthouse.Credit: Bloomberg
Scores of heavily armed agents and NYPD police officers guarded them as the high-security transfer took place.
They will face a federal court judge in Manhattan in a few hours, about 4am AEDT, where they will be indicted on numerous charges including narco-terrorism and conspiracy to import cocaine, according to an unsealed indictment.
Maduro and Flores were extradited to the US on Saturday night following their capture in an audacious military campaign by US forces that had been months in the planning.
The dramatic capture has emboldened Donald Trump who implied last night that he could take military action in Colombia and Greenland, and told Mexico to get its “act together”.
More to come
