The White House sparked a firestorm on Saturday by suggesting that the U.S. military may have deployed an advanced sonic or directed energy weapon to neutralize Venezuelan soldiers and security personnel during the high-stakes operation to capture Nicolás Maduro earlier this month. The claim comes amid conflicting reports about how American forces achieved overwhelming success with minimal casualties while extracting the embattled Venezuelan leader.
According to an eyewitness account shared by the White House press secretary, Venezuelan defenders were caught completely off guard during the January 3 raid that toppled Maduro’s regime. The guard described radar and communications systems mysteriously failing before a swarm of drones appeared overhead, followed by a small contingent of U.S. troops who moved with “precision and speed.” The source claimed the attackers fired at an extremely high rate and employed what he described as a “very intense sound wave,” which caused nosebleeds, vomiting, and incapacitation among defenders, rendering them unable to resist. He said he had never seen anything like it, and that a unit of roughly 20 Americans decimated hundreds of Venezuelan forces.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt seemed to lean into the account in her response, telling reporters to “stop what you are doing and read this,” a move that many observers interpreted as tacit validation of the remarkable claims. Leavitt’s reaction has added fuel to speculation that the operation employed cutting-edge military technology far beyond conventional firearms and explosives.
Stop what you are doing and read this…
🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 https://t.co/v9OsbdLn1q— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) January 10, 2026
The broader context of the operation is grounded in acknowledged reporting. Delta Force, the U.S. military’s elite special missions unit, led the operation after months of planning and rehearsals, including construction of a mock version of Maduro’s safe house, according to Reuters reporting. U.S. forces coordinated with CIA assets on the ground before striking in Caracas, employing a combination of helicopters, drones, and infantry to seize Maduro with minimal U.S. casualties.
An insider from Venezuela’s security forces says US troops were like nothing they’d ever seen — overwhelming firepower, advanced tech, total dominance. After Trump’s Fox News warning on taking on the cartels, Latin America is watching how powerful US forces truly are. 🇺🇸🇻🇪”
— Anttsinc (@anttsinc) January 9, 2026
International reactions have been mixed, with some allies praising the removal of Maduro and others expressing concern over legality and sovereignty. International law experts have questioned whether the unilateral military operation met accepted standards for cross-border enforcement, even when justified by indictments for narcotics and terrorism charges.
Maduro has since appeared in a U.S. federal courtroom in New York, pleading not guilty to multiple charges related to drug trafficking and narco-terrorism. He maintains he was “kidnapped,” and the legal battle over his fate continues to unfold.
As details about the technology used in the raid continue to circulate, the sonic weapon claims — whether confirmed or speculative — have already reverberated across Latin America and beyond, signaling a bold assertion of U.S. military capability and resolve.