VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT NICOLÁS MADURO FLASHES A PEACE SIGN AFTER ARRIVING IN THE US FOLLOWING HIS CAPTURE BY AMERICAN FORCES. (PHOTO).

 Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro flashes a peace sign after arriving in the US following his capture by American forces

Venezuela’s ousted leader Nicolás Maduro was seen flashing a peace sign and smirking at officers as he arrived in US federal custody in New York following his dramatic arrest.

Maduro was transferred to Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center after being flown into the United States earlier on Saturday. The facility is one of the country’s most high-profile federal jails and has previously housed inmates including Sean “Diddy” Combs and Ghislaine Maxwell.

Footage circulating online shows the former president throwing up a peace sign and giving a thumbs-up while handcuffed as he was escorted by law enforcement. During a perp walk at the Drug Enforcement Administration offices in Manhattan, Maduro was also filmed wishing officers a “Happy New Year,” before attempting to speak in English and then switching to Spanish, asking, “Es buenas noches, ¿no?”, meaning, “That’s good night, right?”

Authorities said Maduro was formally charged in New York with narco-terrorism and weapons-related offences before being moved to the Brooklyn detention facility. He has consistently denied allegations that he led or supported a drug trafficking organisation.

US officials said the arrest followed a large-scale overnight military operation in Venezuela that involved airstrikes and special forces. According to accounts from Washington, Maduro and his wife were taken from a fortified compound and later transferred to a US military vessel before being flown to New York.

President Donald Trump, who has long accused Maduro’s government of operating as a “narco-state,” has repeatedly defended the operation, saying the former Venezuelan leader could have surrendered earlier.