TOPPLED tyrant Nicolas Maduro wished cops a “Happy New Year” as he was perp walked after his dramatic Saturday capture.
The Venezuelan dictator was filmed smirking as he was paraded through Manhattan’s Drug Enforcement Administration office while cuffed and flanked by two agents.
The video, shared by The White House’s official rapid response account, shows Maduro attempting to speak English as he bids officers a “good night”.
He then wonders aloud in Spanish, “Es buenas noches, ¿no?” – which translates to, “That’s good night, right?” – before repeating it in a more animated tone.
Maduro has now has arrived at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, according to US media reports.
The high-security facility, which has housed several notable prisoners, including Ghislaine Maxwell and rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs, will now hold Maduro.
Earlier on Saturday, Maduro landed at a US military base, where he was taken to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) offices in New York.
There, he was formally charged with narco-terrorism and weapons offences before being transferred to the Brooklyn facility.
The dictator has consistently denied claims that he heads a drug cartel.
Both Maduro and his wife are set to appear before a judge in New York at an undisclosed date.
In the early hours of Saturday morning, the U.S. military’s elite special mission unit carried out a bold operation to capture Maduro and his wife.
The pair were dragged from their bedroom from inside a fortified military compound after being captured by the US special forces during a large-scale operation in Venezuela.
Their exfiltration was part of a special military operation called Absolute Resolve supported by large-scale air strikes.
The pair were nabbed from inside a fortified military compound while Black Hawk helicopters pounded Caracas.
A blindfolded Maduro was pictured aboard the USS Iwo Jima – a huge aircraft carrier stationed in the Caribbean – as he was shipped off to New York.