Maduro and his wife have pleaded not guilty: I am innocent, an honest man. I am still the president of my country.

Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has pleaded not guilty in a federal court in New York to "narco-terrorism" charges, after his arrest in a sting operation by President Donald Trump's administration shocked world leaders and sparked a state of emergency in Caracas.

Maduro (63) pleaded not guilty to four criminal charges, including conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, and possession of a machine gun and destructive devices.

"I am innocent. I am not guilty. I am an honest man. I am still the president of my country," Maduro said through a court interpreter, before being interrupted by federal judge Alvin Hellerstein.

Maduro's wife, Cilia Flores, also pleaded not guilty. The next hearing is scheduled for March 17.

According to the indictment, Maduro led a cocaine trafficking network that collaborated with violent criminal groups, including the Mexican Sinaloa and Los Zetas cartels, the Colombian FARC rebels, as well as the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang.

Maduro has denied the accusations for years, claiming they are a cover for what he says are imperialist plans aimed at Venezuela's rich oil reserves.

The indictment, which was unsealed on Saturday, charges Maduro, his wife, his son and other co-defendants, Reuters reports.

The indictment alleges that Maduro and other Venezuelan leaders "abused positions of public trust and corrupted once-legitimate institutions" for more than 25 years to import tons of cocaine into the United States.

Maduro, with his hands bound with plastic ties, and Flores were escorted under heavy security from a detention center in Brooklyn to a helicopter that took them to the hearing.

The judge opened the hearing at 12:02 p.m. local time (5:02 p.m. CET) in a Manhattan federal courtroom, where he outlined the charges in the indictment. Maduro, dressed in an orange-and-beige prison uniform, followed the presentation through headphones, with the help of an interpreter.

Judge Alvin Hellerstein asked Maduro to stand and confirm his identity, to which he responded in Spanish.

The court pointed out to the couple the right to notify the Venezuelan consulate of the arrest.

The prosecution claims that Maduro was involved in drug trafficking from the beginning of his political career, when he became a deputy in the Venezuelan National Assembly in 2000, then during his term as Minister of Foreign Affairs, and until the 2013 elections, when he succeeded the late President Hugo Chavez.

Federal prosecutors in New York first filed charges against Maduro in 2020, as part of a long-running drug trafficking investigation that has implicated current and former Venezuelan officials and Colombian guerrillas. The updated indictment, released Saturday, provides new details and additional defendants, including Cilia Flores.

The United States has considered Maduro an illegitimate dictator since 2018, when he declared victory in elections marked by allegations of massive irregularities.

Some international law experts have questioned the legality of the American raid, and some have described President Donald Trump's actions as an abandonment of an order based on the rules of international law.

What happens next in the procedure?

A judge is expected to present Maduro with the charges today and ensure he has a lawyer.

It could be months, even more than a year, before the trial, and prosecutors could offer a plea agreement to avoid a trial.

Judge Alvin Hellerstein is expected to preside over the case, as he was also assigned the 2020 case.

The 92-year-old judge has previously been skeptical of President Donald Trump's administration's arguments in several cases. Earlier this year, Hellerstein rejected attempts to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members under the Enemy Aliens Act, saying the wartime law was misapplied, Reuters reports.

What defense could Maduro present?

As the proceedings develop, Maduro is expected to seek dismissal of the indictment, arguing that he enjoys immunity, or protection from prosecution, as a foreign head of state.

Courts have in some cases concluded that foreign officials enjoy immunity from US justice, but Maduro has a difficult position in this argument due to an important precedent: the US invasion of Panama in 1989, when leader Manuel Noriega was overthrown.

Like Maduro, Noriega was accused of conspiring to smuggle drugs into the US, and was captured in a military raid in his own country, Reuters recalls.

US courts then rejected Noriega's immunity argument, while upholding the US government's position that he was not the legitimate leader of Panama. Legal experts say the precedent could weaken Maduro's strategy to have the charges dismissed.

Maduro could also invoke the legal doctrine that charges should be dismissed if prosecutors acted vindictively or selectively. He could also argue that the allegations are too old to be prosecuted.

The statute of limitations for federal conspiracy is generally five years, meaning charges must be filed within five years of the completion of the alleged crime, with certain exceptions, Reuters writes.

Venezuela has the world's largest oil reserves - about 303 billion barrels - but the sector has been in decline for years due to mismanagement, lack of investment and US sanctions. Last year, production averaged about 1,1 million barrels per day, just a third of the level of the 1970s.