Old clip of military drill falsely shared as US raid seizing Maduro
- Published on January 12, 2026 at 05:46
- 2 min read
- By Chayanit ITTHIPONGMAETEE, AFP Thailand
After a shock US snatch-and-grab raid removed Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro from power in early January 2026, a wave of unrelated videos circulated online falsely claiming they showed the military operation. Among them is footage of a US military exercise misrepresented as a helicopter deploying troops at a building in Caracas. The clip has circulated since 2023 and was filmed in Miami, United States.
A Facebook post from January 4, 2026 shared the clip with a Thai-language caption, "US special forces rappelling from a helicopter onto a rooftop in Venezuela."
The one-minute video shows a military helicopter hovering and flying low between buildings at night.
US special forces were sent by helicopter to snatch Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro from a military compound after US jets had pummeled Venezuela's air defences on January 3 (archived link).
He and his wife, Cilia Flores, who was also forcibly taken during the operation, were flown to New York to face drug trafficking charges (archived link).
Both pleaded not guilty.
President Donald Trump said the United States would temporarily "run" oil-rich Venezuela during a transitional period (archived link).
The false video also circulated on TikTok, and in other languages including English, Arabic, and Sinhala.
But the video predates the raid and was filmed in the United States, not Venezuela.
Military drill in Miami
A reverse image search using the video's keyframes led to a YouTube video titled "Chinook Military Exercise Miami" shared on January 25, 2023 showing the same scene (archived link).
Another video showing the same helicopter was also shared on TikTok on the following day with hashtags including "downtown Miami" and "military helicopter" (archived link).
A subsequent keyword search led to an official training notice posted by the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office on Facebook on January 23, 2023 warning of a military exercise in the following days that involves aircraft (archived link).
Google Earth satellite view shows the helicopter was hovering above the Lawson E. Thomas Court Center in Miami (archived link).
AFP has debunked other false claims related to Maduro's capture.
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