Captured former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, appeared in Manhattan federal court on Monday after their dramatic capture by U.S. forces, opening one of the most consequential criminal prosecutions ever brought against a foreign head of state and his spouse.

The couple was seized in Caracas during a surprise U.S. military operation Saturday and transferred to federal custody in New York. They were being held in Brooklyn ahead of proceedings in the Southern District of New York before U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein.