There are historical precedence for US agents extracting people from countries without that countries consent. There were repeated attempts to kidnap Marc Rich

There are historical precedence for US agents extracting people from countries without that countries consent. There were repeated attempts to kidnap Marc Rich from Switzerland (which failed since the State Dept kept tipping him off.) It is risky because just like spies those US agents will face criminal prosecution themselves if caught. The bigger issue for the Maldives is does the US care. For a country like Switzerland, it created diplomatic issues. In the Marc Rich case, the problem was a prosecutor (Rudolph Giuliani) who was fucking with US foreign policy. I think the same thing has probably happened in this case.