Nicolás Maduro will face trial on drug trafficking charges along with his wife on June 1, as his lawyers continue to object to the US military action that snatched the Venezuelan president from power and deposited him in New York. Maduro, 63, and his wife, Cilia Flores, 69, have been held at a Brooklyn jail since US forces seized them from their home in Caracas during a middle-of-the-night raid and brought them to New York in early January.

Neither spoke during a 15-minute court hearing on Wednesday, where Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein set the trial date at the request of lawyers on both sides. The couple have both pleaded not guilty and could face life in prison if a jury finds they were part of a conspiracy to send cocaine into the US. Under the schedule approved by the judge, defence lawyers will begin filing motions in early September challenging the indictment. Donald Trump's administration has defended the operation that captured Maduro as a "surgical law enforcement operation" linked to a criminal case first brought six years ago. Maduro, however, has described himself as a prisoner of war and claimed his capture amounted to a kidnapping.

US prosecutors allege Maduro was involved in a conspiracy to move thousands of tons of cocaine into the country by colluding with Venezuelan law enforcement to assist drug kingpins.

At his arraignment in January, Maduro said in Spanish: "I am not guilty. I am a decent man, the constitutional president of my country."

His lawyer, Barry Pollack, has previously said he expects to challenge the legality of Maduro's "military abduction".

During Wednesday's hearing, Mr Pollack said he would first challenge the indictment on sovereign immunity grounds, arguing that if the move succeeds, Maduro would not have to continue litigating the case.

Lawyers have said there are complex legal defences that must be addressed by the court before a trial can begin.

Neither Maduro nor Flores has asked to be released on bail.

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