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Patel: FBI Hostage Rescue Team Embedded in Maduro Capture, Ran Foreign Transfer of Custody

April 14, 2026 · FBI – Federal Bureau of Investigation · 0:01:34

Embedded from the source channel — never re-uploaded. Watch on YouTube

What happened

FBI Director Kash Patel, interviewed about the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, said the FBI’s Critical Incident Response Group runs the bureau’s tactical aviation and specialized operations units, including the Hostage Rescue Team, according to Patel.

Patel said the mission, orchestrated by President Trump in what he called a courageous, decisive decision, succeeded because every link in the chain was flawlessly executed by experts across the intelligence community, law enforcement, and the military, working with the Department of War, according to Patel. He said Hostage Rescue Team operators embedded with the insertion force and with the force at sea to execute the raid and capture — a law-enforcement operation quarterbacked at home with Department of Justice partners, according to the interview.

Patel said the FBI was in charge of the foreign transfer of custody, maintaining law-enforcement custody of the individual from the ground seizure through maritime and aviation transportation, with Hostage Rescue Team agents, medics, and specialized aviation units running that portion with law-enforcement, intelligence, and Department of War partners, according to Patel. He framed the operation as taking out and bringing to justice individuals pouring narcotics into American streets, according to Patel.

Why it matters

The clip defines the FBI’s slice of the Maduro operation as Patel states it: tactical embedding in the raid and legal custody of the prisoner from capture to transport.

Sources: FBI – Federal Bureau of Investigation, “Director Patel Interviewed After Maduro Capture”, 2026-04-14 (official upload, embedded above; published 2026-04-14). Transcript via Supadata (private research store, paraphrased and attributed, not republished). All figures and characterizations as stated by the speakers.