Kash Patel credits Trump, FBI teamwork in Maduro capture and Venezuela raid

WASHINGTON, DC: FBI Director Kash Patel has offered the clearest account yet of the bureau’s front-line role in the dramatic capture of Nicolás Maduro, confirming that FBI tactical agents were physically embedded with US forces during the raid that ended the Venezuelan leader’s rule.

Speaking on Fox News on Sunday, January 4, Patel described the operation as a seamless fusion of intelligence, military power, and federal law enforcement, praising President Donald Trump’s decision to authorize what he called a “high-risk, high-reward” mission.

While elite US troops executed the breach, Patel stressed that the FBI’s presence was essential to ensuring Maduro could be lawfully brought before an American judge.

FBI’s CIRG and Hostage Rescue Team involvement

Patel revealed that the FBI’s Critical Incident Response Group (CIRG), which oversees the elite Hostage Rescue Team (HRT), was deeply involved from the outset.

“Our hostage rescue team operators were embedded with the insertion force, along with assets at sea, to extract and execute this daring raid,” Patel said.

He outlined a legally critical process known as a 'Foreign Transfer of Custody'. Under this protocol, FBI agents, medics, and aviation units maintained uninterrupted law enforcement control of Maduro from the moment he was seized on the ground, through maritime transit, and into air transport.

Patel said the step was non-negotiable, designed to bulletproof the arrest against future legal challenges and guarantee the integrity of the prosecution in US federal court.

Venezuela accused of fueling US crisis

Patel framed the mission as more than regime change, casting it as a long-overdue counter-n*****s strike. He accused the Maduro government of turning Venezuela into a “massive transshipment hub” where transporters operated with “reckless abandon.”

“Their direct target of deployment was the United States of America,” Patel said. “It is a large and continuous volume of illicit n*******s that we see poisoning our communities and killing our children.”

He argued that the Justice Department’s case against Maduro would ultimately address the “tens of thousands” of American deaths linked to the illegal substances pipeline routed through Venezuela, adding that speed mattered less than certainty.

“However long it takes, we’re going to get it right,” he said.

Hunting Tren de Aragua

The FBI director also made it clear that the raid was only the opening salvo. Patel issued a blunt warning to remaining criminal networks, singling out the violent Tren de Aragua gang, which the Trump administration recently designated an extremist organization.

“We at the FBI are going to lead the law enforcement mission to find and manhunt anyone responsible,” Patel vowed.

Citing the gang’s footprint in US cities, including incidents in Colorado, he added, “We are not stopping because of this monumental victory. There is more work to do.”

Suffocating the supply chain

Patel tied the Maduro operation into the administration’s broader illegal substance war, highlighting parallel pressure campaigns abroad.

He also pointed to recent diplomatic engagement with China aimed at cutting off chemical precursors used to manufacture f******l.

“We were able to literally shut off the flow of all 13 precursors,” Patel claimed, crediting the effort with a 30% surge in fentanyl seizures over the past year.

According to Patel, authorities have seized enough f******l to kill 175 million Americans - a figure he used to underscore what he called the impact of a White House willing to act decisively. “This is what happens,” he said, “when we stop accepting the status quo.”