In a saga that reads like a Cold War thriller, the United States spent more than a year trying—and ultimately failing—to recruit Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s chief pilot in a covert plan to arrest the embattled leader. As reported by the Associated Press and corroborated by other outlets, the plot began in April 2024, when a tipster walked into the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic with information about Maduro’s private jets. The ensuing operation, involving secret meetings, encrypted chats, and high-stakes diplomatic gambits, laid bare the extraordinary lengths to which Washington was willing to go in its campaign against Maduro’s regime.
The intrigue kicked off when Edwin Lopez, then a federal agent and attaché at the Dominican embassy, received a 3x5 card with a tipster’s contact details. The informant claimed that two planes regularly used by Maduro were undergoing repairs at Santo Domingo’s La Isabela executive airport. For Lopez, a former U.S. Army Ranger from Puerto Rico with a reputation for dismantling criminal networks in the Caribbean, this was the sort of opportunity that couldn’t be ignored. He knew that any U.S.-made parts used in the repairs would violate American sanctions and that the planes themselves might be subject to seizure.
After months of investigation, Lopez and his team confirmed the jets’ connection to Maduro. They also learned that five Venezuelan pilots, including General Bitner Villegas—Maduro’s trusted chief pilot—had been dispatched to retrieve the aircraft. What followed was a carefully orchestrated encounter at an airport hangar in Santo Domingo. Lopez and his colleagues interviewed each pilot separately under the pretense of a casual conversation, saving Villegas for last.
According to sources cited by the Associated Press, the meeting with Villegas was tense. The agents bantered with the pilot about his military service and the celebrities he’d flown. But when pressed, Villegas admitted he had served as a pilot for both Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chávez, and even showed photos as proof. Then came Lopez’s bold pitch: If Villegas could secretly land Maduro’s plane in a location where U.S. authorities could apprehend the president—be it the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, or even Guantanamo Bay—he would be handsomely rewarded and hailed as a hero by millions of Venezuelans.
Villegas didn’t bite, at least not openly. But before leaving, he handed Lopez his cell phone number—a small gesture that kept the door ajar. Over the next 16 months, Lopez kept up the chase, communicating with Villegas via encrypted messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram. Even after retiring from government service in July 2024, Lopez couldn’t let the mission go. He continued to reach out, at one point texting Villegas a link to a Justice Department press release announcing the U.S. had doubled its bounty for Maduro’s capture to $50 million.
"I’m still waiting for your answer," Lopez wrote on August 7, 2025, attaching the news about the reward hike. It was a tantalizing offer, but Villegas never committed. The conversations grew more sporadic and eventually fizzled out. According to sources familiar with the operation, Villegas ultimately refused the proposal, underscoring the risks and deep loyalties at play within Maduro’s inner circle.
The failed recruitment attempt sheds light on the broader U.S. strategy toward Venezuela in recent years. Since returning to the White House, President Donald Trump has taken an even tougher stance against Maduro, whom Washington accuses of destroying Venezuela’s democracy and aiding drug traffickers and terrorist groups. This summer, the Trump administration deployed thousands of troops, attack helicopters, and warships to the Caribbean, targeting fishing boats suspected of smuggling cocaine out of Venezuela. In 13 separate strikes, at least 57 people were killed, according to the Associated Press.
In a further escalation, Trump authorized the CIA to conduct covert actions inside Venezuela in October 2025, and the U.S. government doubled the reward for Maduro’s arrest on federal narco-trafficking charges. These moves, as reported by AP and Mezha.net, highlight the scale of U.S. foreign policy efforts against the Maduro regime—and the potential risks to regional stability.
The operation’s fallout was felt not just in Washington and Caracas, but also online. On September 18, 2025, Lopez noticed an unusual flight path from Maduro’s presidential Airbus and messaged Villegas from a new number. The pilot responded combatively, calling Lopez a "coward," and soon blocked him. Realizing Villegas would not be turned, Lopez and his allies in the Venezuelan opposition decided to try to rattle Maduro. The next day, Marshall Billingslea—a prominent opposition figure—posted a mocking birthday message to Villegas on X (formerly Twitter), featuring a photo of Villegas in uniform and another from the Santo Domingo hangar. The post, seen by nearly three million people, coincided with an unexpected return of Maduro’s plane to Caracas airport, fueling speculation that Villegas had been summoned for interrogation or even jailed.
For several days, Villegas disappeared from public view, sparking a frenzy of rumors across Venezuelan social media. Then, on September 24, he reemerged on a popular TV show hosted by Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello. Standing silently as Cabello praised his loyalty, Villegas raised a clenched fist—a clear signal of allegiance to Maduro. As Cabello put it, Villegas was an "unfailing, kick-ass patriot," dismissing any suggestion that Venezuela’s military could be bought.
Meanwhile, the U.S. was not idle on the legal front. Authorities seized both of Maduro’s jets in the Dominican Republic—one in September 2024 and the other in February 2025, the latter during Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s first overseas trip in his new role. At a press conference, Lopez described the seized aircraft as a "treasure trove of intelligence," containing the names of Venezuelan air force officers and detailed records of the planes’ movements. The Venezuelan government, unsurprisingly, condemned the seizures as "brazen theft."
The story of Lopez’s failed recruitment effort is more than a tale of espionage and high-stakes diplomacy; it’s a window into the escalating tensions and complex power plays shaping U.S.-Venezuela relations. For all the cloak-and-dagger drama, the episode ultimately ended not with a daring arrest, but with a public reaffirmation of loyalty—and a reminder that, in the volatile world of international intrigue, not every gambit pays off.
