'Up to 150' Venezuelan militia killed in Donald Trump's dawn blitz, Navy Seal officer says

After being caught, the duo were shipped to New York, where they both pleaded not guilty to conspiracy charges brought before them by US officials.

Prosecutors have alleged that the Venezuelan leader, his wife Cilia Flores and his son alongside accomplices were involved in a "relentless campaign of cocaine trafficking" and were linked to cartels designated as terrorist groups.

But, reflecting on the attack, retired officer Mike Sarraille spoke with GB News' US Correspondent Steven Edginton about what the event says about America's military prowess and just how many died during the blitz.

"This operation is historic," Mr Sarraille said. "It was one of the most sophisticated and complex operations you can run. It will go down in military doctrine and in military history."

He continued: "I know your SAS, your special air service, special boat service, which are like Delta Air Force units are probably looking closely at this to garner what they can learn from it and possibly replicate in future raids of their own."

He added, in preparation for the historic attack, he suspected American forces would have even recreated the building where Maduro slept to allow the assault force to rehearse the capture of the leader.

He continued: "The [officers] were probably removed from the rest of the forces, removed from their families to focus on this full time over a period of months.

"Obviously, there was no American fatalities. It seemed to go completely smoothly."

Lauding the finesse shown by US Army officials, he said: "It speaks to the US military in the operations and what they've learned over the last 20 years in the global war on terror.

"You saw multiple pre-assault fires, as we call them where the US military struck multiple locations in and around Caracas and really probably served a few purposes.

"One, to clear the air corridors for the assault force going in to capture Maduro, which means removing any air defence threats.

"The fact that they hit multiple locations adds to the deception of what's going on. The Venezuelan military took multiple hits in different locations.

"They didn't know if the US Marines were coming across the water for a full-scale invasion. And that means they have to defend everywhere.

"And when an enemy defends everywhere, they defend nowhere. It was beautiful deception. Ultimately, they took out the power grid, whether that was an electronic warfare, attack or espionage.

"For the assault force to get in, unopposed, spend minutes on the ground eliminating the security forces and surrounding Venezuelan military threats and capture Maduro within minutes.

"That is a level of operational prowess that rarely exists in the world."

Mr Sarraille further stressed the "vital importance" of the element of surprise, adding: "Even the Americans didn't know what was coming!"

Asked if he has any indication of the number of Venezuelans who were killed during the attack, the retired official answered he had heard from 100 to 150 Venezuelan forces were killed.

"Amongst that 150, we're also 30 Cuban security forces soldiers. That's just the unfortunate side.

"And for some people, they don't think that's unfortunate, but that is the cost of executing one of these missions. And it was successful."

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