India, Jan. 6 -- Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro pleaded not guilty to federal drug trafficking charges in a U.S. court on Monday, declaring himself "innocent" and claiming that he had been kidnapped by the American military.

"I'm innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man, the president of my country," Maduro told the judge during his first appearance in a U.S. courtroom.

Both used headsets to follow the proceedings through Spanish translation.

The former Venezuelan president was transported under heavy security from a Brooklyn detention facility early Monday morning.

He was taken by motorcade to a nearby field, flown by helicopter across New York Harbor, and then driven in an armored vehicle to a Manhattan courthouse.

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