CIA Mole Played Huge Part In Capturing Maduro, Here’s How

The recent capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro wouldn’t have been possible without the CIA.

The New York Times, in an exclusive report, revealed the CIA was able to infiltrate Maduro’s government circles with a mole.

This move allowed the CIA to track Maduro and know his whereabouts to capture him.

The New York Times reported more on the CIA mole’s part in the capture of Maduro:

A C.I.A. source within the Venezuelan government monitored the location of Nicolás Maduro in both the days and moments before his capture by American special operation forces, according to people briefed on the operation.

The American spy agency, the people said, produced the intelligence that led to the capture of Mr. Maduro, monitoring his position and movements with a fleet of stealth drones that provided near constant monitoring over Venezuela, in addition to the information provided by its Venezuelan sources.

The C.I.A. had a group of officers on the ground in Venezuela working clandestinely beginning in August, according to a person familiar with the agency’s work. The officers gathered information about Mr. Maduro’s “pattern of life” and movements.

It is not clear how the C.I.A. recruited the Venezuelan source who informed the Americans of Mr. Maduro’s location. But former officials said the agency was clearly aided by the $50 million reward the U.S. government offered for information leading to Mr. Maduro’s capture.

In his confirmation hearing last year, John Ratcliffe, the C.I.A. director, promised he would lead a more aggressive agency, one willing to conduct covert operations to both collect information and advance American policy. President Trump authorized the C.I.A. to take more aggressive action last fall, and then in November approved planning and preparation for a series of operations in Venezuela.

In late December, the C.I.A. used an armed drone to conduct a strike on a dock that U.S. officials believed was being used by a Venezuelan gang to load drugs on to boats.

One of the people briefed on Mr. Maduro’s capture said it was the product of a deep partnership between the agency and the military and involved “months of meticulous planning.” A senior U.S. official said that the C.I.A. and special operations analysts had Mr. Maduro “wired” — meaning precisely located — from early on in the planning of the operation.

CIA had 'officers' in Venezuela as early as AUGUST, getting info on Maduro's 'PATTERN OF LIFE' — NYT pic.twitter.com/58QOehtyY5

— RT (@RT_com) January 3, 2026

The Jerusalem Post reported more on the CIA’s role in the mission to capture Maduro:

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) produced the intelligence that allowed the US Army’s Delta Force to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, a CIA official said during a briefing with reporters on Saturday.

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Delta Force is an elite special forces unit.

According to the official, the CIA had a small team operating covertly on the ground in Venezuela since August, and was able to provide “extraordinary insights” into Maduro’s life patterns.

Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Secretary of Defense, and the CIA director “formed the core team that worked on the issue for months,” holding regular meetings and phone calls.
The official added that the team, which at times met on a daily basis, met both with the president and separately.

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