US tried to recruit Maduro’s pilot for kidnap plot – AP

The failed operation was part of Washington’s efforts to overthrow the Venezuelan leader

A US federal agent secretly attempted to recruit Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s personal pilot as part of a plot to capture the leader and deliver him into American custody on drug trafficking charges, AP reports.

Citing three current and former US officials, as well as one of Maduro’s opponents, the outlet claimed that Homeland Security agent Edwin Lopez met with Maduro’s pilot General Bitner Villegas in the Dominican Republic in 2024.

Lopez allegedly offered the pilot money and protection in exchange for diverting Maduro’s plane to a location where the US authorities could arrest him. The pilot remained noncommittal but continued to exchange messages with the agent for more than a year, even after Lopez retired in July 2025.

Lopez reportedly cited a US Justice Department announcement doubling the bounty for Maduro’s capture to $50 million, urging Villegas to “be Venezuela’s hero.” The pilot ultimately refused, calling Lopez a “coward” and cutting off contact.

The revelations come as the US steps up military and intelligence pressure on Caracas. President Donald Trump has authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations inside Venezuela and has deployed warships, aircraft, and thousands of troops to the Caribbean for what Washington calls an anti-drug campaign.

In recent months, US strikes on vessels near Venezuela and Colombia have reportedly killed dozens of people.

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Trump has said the actions target narcotics traffickers. US officials have accused Maduro’s government of running a “narco-state.”

The Venezuelan president denied the allegations, calling them a pretext for regime change. He also described Trump’s admission of covert CIA activity inside Venezuela as unprecedented and “desperate.”

Maduro has placed the military on heightened alert and stated that Venezuela maintains a large arsenal of Soviet-era Igla-S air defense systems.

Moscow, a close ally of Caracas, has condemned the US campaign. Earlier this month, the Russian ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, accused Washington of plotting a coup in Venezuela under the guise of an anti-drug operation, calling it “a flagrant violation of international law and human rights.”