U.S. assets spent months in shadows for 90-minute mission in Caracas

The daring U.S. mission to capture Nicolas Maduro took root months ago with the insertion into Caracas of a team of CIA operatives and culminated in the early morning hours of Saturday with a surgical strike on the Venezuelan capital that involved hundreds of aircraft, ships and elite U.S. soldiers who stormed the dictator's heavily guarded safe house to take him and his wife into custody.

More than 150 aircraft, including fighter jets, bombers and helicopters, played a role in inserting a team of Delta Force commandos into Mr. Maduro's compound inside the Fort Tiuna military base in Caracas.

Senior Trump administration and government officials confirmed to several news organizations over the weekend that U.S. intelligence operatives had been closely monitoring Mr. Maduro's daily activities for months.