"And those words were transmitted to the entire joint force. Over the course of the night, aircraft began launching from 20 different bases on land and sea across the Western Hemisphere," Caine added. "Our youngest crew member was 20, and our oldest crew member was 49."
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the intelligence agencies, including the CIA, National Security Agency (NSA) and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) assisted in the effort.
"As the night began, the helicopters took off with the extraction force, which included law enforcement officers, and began their flight into Venezuela at 100 feet above the water," Caine said. "As they approached Venezuelan shores, the United States began layering different effects provided by Spacecom, Cybercom and other members of the interagency to create a pathway.
"Overhead, those forces were protected by aircraft from the United States Marines, the United States Navy, the United States Air Force and the Air National Guard. The force included F-22s, F-35s, F-18s, EA-18s, E-2s, B-1 bombers and other support aircraft, as well as numerous remotely piloted drones," he continued.
"As the force began to approach Caracas, the joint air component began dismantling and disabling the air defense systems in Venezuela, employing weapons to ensure the safe passage of the helicopters into the target area.
"We arrived at Maduro's compound at 1:01 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, or 2:01 a.m. Caracas local time, and the apprehension force descended into Maduro's compound and moved with speed, precision and discipline towards their objective and isolated the area to ensure the safety and security of the ground force, while apprehending the indicted persons.
"On arrival into the target area, the helicopters came under fire, and they replied with that fire with overwhelming force and self-defense. One of our aircraft was hit but remained flyable. And as the president said earlier today, all of our aircraft came home and that aircraft remained flyable during the rest of the mission."
Maduro and his wife then "gave up" and were taken into custody by the Justice Department with no loss of life to U.S. forces, Caine told reporters.
"After securing the indicted persons, the force began to prep for departure. Helicopters were called in to exfiltrate the extraction force, while fighter aircraft and remotely piloted aircraft provided overhead coverage and suppressive fire. There were multiple self-defense engagements as the force began to withdraw out of Venezuela.
"The force successfully exfiltrated and returned to their afloat launch bases, and the force was over the water at 3:29 a.m. Eastern Standard Time with indicted persons on board, and both Maduro and his wife were embarked aboard the USS Iwo Jima," Caine concluded.