Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido stated on Wednesday that intelligence agents have detained his deputy, the first apprehension of a lawmaker ever since Guaido attempted to spark a military uprising last week to reduce President Nicolas Maduro’s government.

Edgar Zambrano, vice president of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, which Guaido leads, stated on Twitter that agents from the SEBIN intelligence agency were utilizing a tow truck to pull his vehicle, with him inside, to one among their Caracas bases.

On Tuesday, Venezuela’s pro-Maduro Constituent Assembly consented to peel Zambrano, and also 6 other lawmakers, of their parliamentary protection to enable their long term prosecution.

The Supreme Court have earlier accused the lawmakers of conspiracy, rebellion and also treason, and on Wednesday accused three other opposition legislators of the similar crimes. The opposition claims Maduro have piled the court with his very own followers and will not recognize its legitimacy, while the US government this week risked to consent all of its members.

An tested out uprising last week directed by Guaido, labeled as the rightful head of state by the United States and other Western countries, unable to dislodge Maduro, as have a series of US sanctions against his government. Maduro decried the occasions as an attempted coup.

“One of the principal conspirators of the coup has just been arrested,” Diosdado Cabello, head of the Constituent Assembly, stated in comments broadcast on state television. “They will have to pay before the courts for the failed coup that they attempted,” he stated.

Zambrano stated on Twitter that SEBIN agents have surrounded his vehicle by the headquarters of his Democratic Action party in Caracas’ La Florida district.

“We were surprised by the SEBIN, and after refusing to let us leave our vehicle, they used a tow truck to forcibly transfer us directly to the (SEBIN headquarters) Helicoide,” he stated. It seemed not yet clear if Zambrano had been at the Helicoide.

“The regime has kidnapped the first vice president,” Guaido stated on Twitter.

Guaido in January invoked the constitution to presume an interim presidency, frowning upon Maduro as lacking legitimacy after he secured re-election last year in a vote widely seen as a scam. Maduro have overseen the collapse of Venezuela’s economy, that has shrunk by half in the last 5 years, forcing over 3 million Venezuelans to emigrate.

The Constituent Assembly taken away Guaido’s parliamentary immunity in early April, but government authorities have not at all tried to arrest him since that time though Maduro have asserted he will “face justice.” The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened Maduro’s government with a hard response should it ever detain Guaido.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Supreme Court’s head, Maikel Moreno, defied the US government’s threats to sanction his court’s members if they do not reject Maduro’s government and Guaido.

The U.S Treasury Department enforced sanctions in 2017 on Moreno and the 7 principal members of the court’s constitutional chamber for rulings that “usurped the authority” of the National Assembly.

US Vice President Mike Pence stated on Tuesday the Trump administration will shortly sanction the 25 remaining members of the court. Pence stated on Tuesday that the United States was raising economic sanctions on a former Venezuelan general who converted against Maduro in an effort to encourage other Maduro allies to follow suit.

The head of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, stated: “We demand the SEBIN stop the intimidation, respect the lawmakers’ parliamentary immunities, and immediately released Edgar Zambrano.”