CIA cyber intelligence helped US forces capture Maduro, deputy director says

Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are seen in handcuffs after landing at a Manhattan helipad, escorted by heavily armed Federal agents as they make their way into an armored car en route to a Federal courthouse in Manhattan on January 5, 2026 in New York City. XNY/Star Max/GC Images

The agency’s Center for Cyber Intelligence built a “flawless intelligence picture,” Michael Ellis said.

CIA cyber operatives provided intelligence that helped U.S. forces locate and capture deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro within four minutes of landing on the ground in January this year, agency Deputy Director Michael Ellis said Tuesday.

Ellis credited the agency’s Center for Cyber Intelligence with building what he called a “flawless intelligence picture” for Operation Absolute Resolve, the U.S. operation that seized Maduro.

“If you look at [Absolute Resolve], you know that operation was only made possible by a flawless intelligence picture, and that flawless intelligence picture was built on cyber operations enabled by our CCI team,” Ellis said, speaking at the Billington Cybersecurity Conference in Washington, D.C. Without that intelligence, he said, the agency could not have helped U.S. forces locate and apprehend Maduro as quickly as they did.

The remarks offer a more detailed public picture of how CIA cyber prowess helped U.S. forces locate and capture Maduro, expanding on earlier accounts from officials that acknowledged support without explaining the agency’s entire contribution.

Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine previously acknowledged Cyber Command’s participation in the efforts and credited the CIA, National Security Agency and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency with supporting the Venezuela mission. He described months of intelligence collection on Maduro’s movements and daily routines, but did not directly identify the CIA cyber role Ellis outlined.

During the capture mission, multiple intelligence agencies established crisis action teams to support Special Operations Command and Southern Command. A U.S. official familiar with the operation previously said the NSA provided geolocation support and monitored communications and signals that could reveal troop movements or plans to activate radar.

Ellis discussed the operation in explaining the CIA’s recent decision to elevate CCI to a mission center, a change he said gave their cyber operators greater priority and helped align resources around intelligence needs.

The change has helped the agency “bring cyber operations to bear to solve these tough intelligence problems,” Ellis said. He did not specifically identify the systems targeted or explain how the cyber operations revealed Maduro’s location.

The CIA primarily executes and coordinates human intelligence gathering overseas, often done undercover. Officers recruit and manage foreign assets to clandestinely gather intelligence on areas like economics and terrorism threats. Much of that work has often involved the use of technology, including computer intrusions.

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2026年1月5日，在纽约市，尼古拉斯·马杜罗和他的妻子西莉亚·弗洛雷斯在曼哈顿的一个直升机停机坪降落后，戴着手铐，在全副武装的联邦特工的押送下，登上了一辆装甲车，前往曼哈顿的联邦法院。图片来源：XNY/Star Max/GC Images

迈克尔·埃利斯说，该机构的网络情报中心构建了一个“完美的情报图景”。

美国中央情报局副局长迈克尔·埃利斯周二表示，今年1月，美国中央情报局网络特工提供的情报帮助美军在委内瑞拉被罢黜领导人尼古拉斯·马杜罗登陆后四分钟内就定位并抓获了他。

埃利斯称赞该机构的网络情报中心为“绝对决心行动”（美国抓捕马杜罗的行动）构建了他所谓的“完美无瑕的情报图景”。

“如果你看看[绝对决心行动]，你就会知道，这项行动之所以能够成功，完全得益于完美的情报形势，而完美的情报形势又建立在我们CCI团队支持的网络行动之上，”埃利斯在华盛顿特区举行的比灵顿网络安全会议上说道。他表示，如果没有这些情报，该机构不可能帮助美军如此迅速地定位并逮捕马杜罗。

这些言论向公众更详细地描述了中央情报局的网络实力如何帮助美军定位并抓捕马杜罗，并扩展了此前官员们的说法，这些官员承认提供了支持，但没有解释该机构的全部贡献。

参谋长联席会议主席丹·凯恩将军此前已承认网络司令部参与了相关行动，并赞扬了中央情报局、国家安全局和国家地理空间情报局对委内瑞拉行动的支持。他描述了数月来对马杜罗的行踪和日常活动进行的情报收集工作，但并未直接提及埃利斯概述的中央情报局网络行动的具体作用。

在抓捕行动期间，多个情报机构成立了危机行动小组，为特种作战司令部和南方司令部提供支持。一位熟悉此次行动的美国官员此前表示，国家安全局提供了地理定位支持，并监控了可能泄露部队调动或启动雷达计划的通信和信号。

埃利斯在解释中央情报局最近将CCI提升为任务中心的决定时谈到了这项行动，他说这一变化使他们的网络作战人员获得了更大的优先权，并有助于围绕情报需求调整资源。

埃利斯表示，这一改变帮助该机构“运用网络行动来解决这些棘手的情报难题”。但他没有具体说明被攻击的系统，也没有解释网络行动是如何暴露马杜罗位置的。

中央情报局主要负责执行和协调海外的人力情报搜集工作，这些工作通常以秘密方式进行。特工招募和管理外国人员，秘密收集经济和恐怖主义威胁等领域的情报。这项工作往往涉及技术的使用，包括计算机入侵。

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