Deposed Venezuelan leader brought to area after capture
Newburgh. Nicolas Maduro was flown through Stewart Air National Guard Base before being transferred to New York City to face federal narcoterrorism and weapons charges.
| 07 Jan 2026 | 12:14
An airplane carrying captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro lands at Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh, N.Y. on Jan. 3, 2026. (
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Protesters in front of Stewart Air National Guard Base before the arrival of captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, in Newburgh, N.Y. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray) (
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Protesters demonstrate in front of Stewart Air National Guard Base before the arrival of captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, in Newburgh, N.Y. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray) (
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Orange County found itself in the middle of a major international news event on Saturday when deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro touched down on American soil at Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh around 4:30 p.m. following his capture by U.S. forces that morning in his nation’s capital city of Caracas.
After being taken into U.S. custody, Maduro was transported to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, before boarding a flight for Stewart. Shortly after his arrival, he disembarked a white FBI Boeing 757 aircraft in handcuffs wearing a blue Origin hooded sweatshirt surrounded by federal authorities who escorted him into a nearby hangar.
A short time later, Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who was also arrested, were taken by helicopter to New York City’s DEA headquarters in Manhattan and then to Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
When asked why Stewart was the chosen airport for Maduro, federal authorities from multiple agencies including the DEA, FBI and Department of War declined to comment. A spokesperson for Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus said their office did not have information regarding Maduro’s arrival in the county, except to say that the sheriff’s office played no role in security.
On Monday, Maduro appeared in Manhattan federal court on federal charges. Those charges – according to Attorney General Pam Bondi – are narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machineguns and destructive devices against the United States. Except for narcoterrorism, Flores faces the same charges. Both pleaded not guilty.