On Monday morning, a handcuffed, jumpsuit-clad Nicholas Maduro stepped off a military helicopter in New York City, flanked by armed federal agents.
The Venezuelan president had spent the night in a notorious federal jail in Brooklyn, before authorities transported him to a Manhattan courthouse to face criminal charges.
Attorney General Pam Bondi has said Maduro was brought to the US to "face justice".
But international law experts question the legality of the Trump administration's actions, and argue the US may have violated international statutes governing the use of force. Domestically, however, the US's actions fall into a legal grey area that may still result in Maduro standing trial, regardless of the circumstances that brought him there.
The US maintains its actions were legally justified. The Trump administration has accused Maduro of "narco-terrorism" and enabling the transport of "thousands of tonnes" of cocaine to the US.
