Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro has been captured as part of a US military operation and brought to New York to face a series of charges related to drug trafficking and weapons possession conspiracies.

The Trump administration’s unilateral action to extract Maduro from his country — an operation dubbed "Operation Absolute Resolve" — reportedly involved the use of 150 aircraft to strike locations in northern Venezuela, including the capital Caracas. Some reports suggest 40 people have died as a result of the US strikes.