A longtime U.S. law enforcement agent secretly tried to recruit Nicolas Maduro’s pilot to join a plot to capture the Venezuelan leader and deliver him into U.S. custody to face drug trafficking charges.

The discovery of a vast telecommunications network that authorities say was capable of wiping out cellular communications in the nation's largest city is just the latest in a steady series of high-profile plots targeting critical infrastructure.

A federal agent tried to convince the personal pilot of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to fly him into U.S. territory to be captured.