Failed covert plot: US reportedly tried to recruit Maduro's pilot to capture Venezuelan leader
Iran Press TV
Wednesday, 29 October 2025 7:30 AM
A US federal agent attempted to recruit Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's personal pilot, Gen. Bitner Villegas, in a covert plan, to divert the president's plane into American custody, the Associated Press reports.
The plot, led by Homeland Security Investigations agent Edwin Lopez, offered the pilot immense wealth and protection in exchange for secretly diverting Maduro's plane to a location where US forces could seize him, the news agency added.
Despite initial contact and months of encrypted communication, Villegas never agreed to the plan.
The operation, which spanned over a year, resembled a Cold War-era espionage effort with secret airport meetings, hidden recordings and coded Whatsapp messages.
It also highlighted the length to which Washington has gone to unseat Maduro, who US officials accuse of sheltering drug traffickers, an allegation categorically rejected by Venezuela.
Under President Donald Trump's renewed hardline approach, the US has also intensified military and intelligence operations against Venezuela, including alleged anti-narcotics strikes in the Caribbean that killed dozens.
The administration also authorized CIA covert actions inside Venezuela and raised the bounty on Maduro's arrest to $50 million.
Lopez invoked that bounty in messages to Villegas, urging him to "be Venezuela's hero."
The plot began on April 24, 2024, when a tipster walked into the US Embassy in the Dominican Republic, claiming that two aircraft linked to Maduro-- a Dassault Falcon 2000EX and a Dassault Falcon 900EX—were undergoing repairs that likely violated US sanctions.
Lopez, a 50 year-old former US Army Ranger from Puerto Rico, reportedly learned that Maduro had dispatched five military pilots to retrieve the planes, including Villegas, a colonel in the Venezuelan Air Force and a trusted member of the presidential honor guard.
With approval from his superiors and Dominican authorities, Lopez and his team questioned the pilots separately inside a hanger near the jets and Lopez offered his bold pitch: in exchange for secretly flying Maduro to a US-controlled location — such as Puerto Rico, Guantanamo Bay, or the Dominican Republic — the pilot would be made rich and celebrated.
The pilots returned to Venezuela soon afterward, leaving the jets behind for lack of proper clearances. Meanwhile, US authorities began a federal forfeiture case to seize the planes.
Despite retiring in mid-2024, Lopez kept texting Villegas through encrypted apps, pressing him to defect and reminding him of the multimillion-dollar bounty.
However, the pilot never agreed and instead publicly reaffirmed his loyalty to Maduro.
Those familiar with the operation said Lopez became consumed by the failed plan and what began as a tip about two aircraft became one of the most audacious and futile US operations in recent years, revealing the extraordinary measures Washington explored in its long struggle to unseat Maduro.
In recent months, there has been a significant increase in tensions between Washington and Caracas over a major US military buildup in the Caribbean.
Maduro says the Trump administration is "fabricating" a war against the Latin-American nation to topple its government and take control of its vast energy reserves.
He has survived numerous US-backed assassination attempts and other efforts by Washington and its local lackeys to bring him down.
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