US President Donald Trump has said American forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro following large-scale strikes, marking a dramatic escalation in Washington’s long-running confrontation with Caracas.

The Trump administration accuses Maduro of fueling illegal migration, drug trafficking and organised crime affecting the United States. Trump has repeatedly blamed the Venezuelan leader for the arrival of hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants, amid an economic collapse that has driven nearly eight million people to flee the country since 2013.

Trump has also alleged that Venezuela plays a major role in drug trafficking to the US. He designated Venezuelan criminal groups Tren de Aragua and the so-called Cartel de los Soles as Foreign Terrorist Organisations, claiming Maduro leads the latter — an allegation Maduro strongly denies. Analysts note the cartel is not a structured organisation but a term referring to corrupt officials enabling drug transit.

Since Trump began his second term, pressure on Maduro intensified. The US doubled rewards for information leading to Maduro’s capture, imposed a naval blockade on Venezuelan oil exports and authorised covert CIA operations inside the country. US forces also carried out dozens of strikes on vessels suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean and Pacific.

However, counter-narcotics experts say Venezuela is mainly a transit country and plays a relatively minor role in global drug trafficking. Most cocaine entering the US comes via the Pacific, while fentanyl — now the leading cause of overdose deaths — is largely produced in Mexico and smuggled across the US southern border.

Maduro, in power since 2013 after succeeding Hugo Chávez, has rejected US accusations, calling them a pretext to overthrow his government and seize Venezuela’s vast oil reserves. Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven crude oil reserves, though production has fallen sharply due to sanctions, mismanagement and underinvestment.

The Venezuelan military has vowed to defend the country’s sovereignty as tensions continue to escalate.

With inputs from BBC