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The US claim their armed forces mission aimed at apprehending the South American nation's leader took months of planning, yet the moment Donald Trump gave the command to launch, "Operation Absolute Resolve" was completed in roughly 150 minutes.

The shocking early-morning attack on Saturday marked a historic incident within modern politics and culminated in the detention of Venezuela's president and his wife, Cilia Flores de Maduro.

Seized by troops belonging to a top-tier US army unit when they tried to escape inside a fortified panic room, the couple are currently detained at a holding facility in New York and are confronting drug trafficking and terrorism accusations.

A Early Morning Assault against the Military Complex

With daybreak that morning, the scale of the armed intervention in the capital, Venezuela's primary city, became apparent.

Images from Fuerte Tiuna, an enormous army installation in which top government officials reside, show blasted structures as well as charred, smoking cars.

It was at this base where Maduro and his wife were captured, a senior political figure a party official reported.

Just Moments Before - Trump Issues the Command

"Operation Absolute Resolve" started amid reports of explosions at approximately 02:00 local time (6:00 Greenwich Mean Time).

American forces cut power to the city, the President has since said, calling it "dark and deadly".

The aim was to neutralize the nation's air defense systems and open up the path for American assault helicopters to reach the target.

Our evaluation was that we successfully kept completely the element of surprise", the top general remarked.

Strike locations encompassed the base, a port and an airfield. Pictures depict Fuerte Tiuna on fire, with massive fires seen from a great distance.

Venezuelans reported how US military helicopters flew at low altitude over Caracas, heading for Fuerte Tiuna.

A number of the aircraft were shot at, but were still able to fly, officials said.

There was a lot of gunfire," Trump noted.

The Lightning-Fast Ground Assault

Once on the ground, forces from the US Army's Delta Force, moved quickly.

They entered to the compound at 02:01 Caracas time, and the Maduros surrendered without resistance, according to reports.

However, further information were provided. The Maduros attempted to flee into a secure location, described as a military "fortress".

The secure room is all steel, and he failed to get inside because our guys were too quick.

"It was an extremely heavy entryway, a very heavy door," the President told reporters. "He made it the entrance. He was unable to close it."

However, even assuming they had managed to enter the safe room, forces could have breached it in about "47 seconds".

From Caracas to New York City

Currently under American detention, Nicolás Maduro and his wife were moved some 3,400 kilometers, to Manhattan.

They were taken by air from the capital by helicopter, and taken to the USS Iwo Jima, a warship positioned in the Caribbean. The team was back in international waters before 4:30 AM.

Aboard the vessel that one of the defining pictures from the entire mission emerged - the president in handcuffs, wearing ear protectors and a type of blindfold resembling opaque glasses.

After leaving the ship, his initial stop was to the US Navy base at Guantánamo Bay.

They then traveled via official aircraft to Stewart Air National Guard Base in New York, before a final helicopter transfer to Manhattan.

Confronting Justice on US Territory

On Saturday, a video emerged showing the detainee inside the Drug Enforcement Agency's (DEA) headquarters in New York.

The couple are now being held at a federal holding facility in the city.

They face charges with conspiracy to commit drug-related terrorism and import cocaine, owning machine guns and explosives, and plots to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the US.

"They will soon face the complete force of the US legal system in the United States in American courts," the Attorney General declared.

Footage shows the leader's entry into American and transport to detention.