According to The New York Times, a CIA source within the Venezuelan government tracked the location and movements of Nicolás Maduro leading up to the U.S. military operation that resulted in his capture.

The intelligence agency monitored his “position and movements with a fleet of stealth drones that provided near constant monitoring over Venezuela,” the outlet stated.

“The U.S. Army’s Delta Force built an exact replica of Nicolas Maduro’s safe house and repeatedly practiced how they would execute the raid. The CIA had an asset in Maduro’s inner circle who monitored his movements and gave him up,” reporter Ryan Saavedra said.

More from The New York Times:

The C.I.A. had a group of officers on the ground in Venezuela working clandestinely beginning in August, according to a person familiar with the agency’s work. The officers gathered information about Mr. Maduro’s “pattern of life” and movements.

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It is not clear how the C.I.A. recruited the Venezuelan source who informed the Americans of Mr. Maduro’s location. But former officials said the agency was clearly aided by the $50 million reward the U.S. government offered for information leading to Mr. Maduro’s capture.

In his confirmation hearing last year, John Ratcliffe, the C.I.A. director, promised he would lead a more aggressive agency, one willing to conduct covert operations to both collect information and advance American policy. President Trump authorized the C.I.A. to take more aggressive action last fall, and then in November approved planning and preparation for a series of operations in Venezuela.

Reuters noted that the operation to capture Maduro had been in the works for months, with information provided by the CIA team on the ground aiding the effort.

Reuters shared further info:

Two other sources told Reuters the intelligence agency also had an asset close to Maduro who would monitor his movements and was poised to pinpoint his exact location as the operation unfolded.

With the pieces in place, Trump approved the operation four days ago, but military and intelligence planners suggested he wait for better weather and less cloud cover. At 10:46 p.m. EST on Friday, Trump gave the final go ahead for what would be known as Operation Absolute Resolve, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine told reporters.

Trump, surrounded by his advisers at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, watched a live stream of the events.

How ⁠the hours-long operation unfolded is based on interviews with four sources familiar ‌with the matter and details Trump himself has revealed.

“I’ve done some pretty good ones, but I’ve never seen anything like this,” Trump said on Fox News just hours after the mission was completed.

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