The wife of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was due back in court Thursday as her lawyers seek her release from jail and placement under house arrest, citing serious heart problems.

Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have been detained in New York since early January after US forces seized them during a nighttime raid on their home in Caracas.

Both have pleaded not guilty to charges in a criminal case filed six years ago against them and several alleged co-conspirators. If convicted, they could face life in prison for allegedly taking part in a conspiracy to smuggle cocaine into the United States.

Their lawyers have asked the court to dismiss the case, arguing that Maduro and Flores were protected by immunity as the president and first lady of a foreign country.

Flores, 69, has separately sought release on medical grounds. Her lawyers say her health problems cannot be properly treated in jail and that she could instead stay at a New York residence under round-the-clock security.

They also said Flores suffered permanent scars after she was “thrown against a wall or dresser” during the US military operation that resulted in her capture.

According to her lawyers, Flores has lost 25 pounds (11 kilograms) during her detention at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. They said doctors have warned that she may need heart surgery.

She has also experienced ongoing lightheadedness, dizziness and shortness of breath and may have suffered a minor heart attack in July, her lawyers said.

Prosecutors have opposed the request for bail, arguing in a court filing that Flores would present an “extreme risk of flight and danger to the public” if released.

Prosecutors also said Flores has been taken from the detention center to a local hospital when she needed medical treatment.

President Donald Trump's administration has described the operation to capture Maduro as a “surgical law enforcement operation.” Maduro, meanwhile, has called himself a prisoner of war and described his capture as a kidnapping.

Flores is accused of joining a cocaine-importation conspiracy with her husband, who served as Venezuela's president from 2013 until he was captured by US forces in January.

Her lawyers said she poses no flight risk because she is “intent on supporting her husband with her constant presence.”