Nicolás Maduro is being held at a New York prison that once contained disgraced singer R Kelly, accused UnitedHealthcare-CEO-killer Luigi Mangione and Jeffery Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell.
The 63-year-old Venezuelan leader was seized in what represents the most significant US military intervention in Latin America since the 1989 Panama invasion and is being held at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC).
His wife Cilia Flores, 69, is also detained at the facility, with both placed in solitary confinement away from the general prison population.
The White House released footage showing Maduro walking through the detention centre's corridors shortly after his arrival on Saturday night.
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Crowds of Venezuelan expats, many wrapped in their national flag, gathered outside the jail to celebrate as the motorcade carrying the deposed leader arrived.
The federal facility, which opened in the early 1990s and sits near a shopping mall within view of the Statue of Liberty, has earned a notorious reputation over the years.
Conditions have been so dire that some judges have declined to send defendants there at all and Legal Aid Society described it in June as "a facility notorious for its dangerous conditions".
At its worst, the detention centre has been characterised as "hell on earth" and an "ongoing tragedy".
The Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn (MDC Brooklyn) has been described as 'hell on earth'
|REUTERS
Inmates and their legal representatives have repeatedly raised concerns about widespread violence within the walls.
Two prisoners died at the hands of fellow detainees in 2024, while staff members faced charges for taking bribes and smuggling contraband.
A winter power failure in 2019 left those incarcerated without heating or electricity for an entire week.
As well as Maxwell and R Kelly, the facility has housed numerous high-profile figures over the years
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A convoy of vehicles believed to be carrying captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro departs the MDC
|REUTERS
Mangione pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of murder following the shooting of Brian Thompson | ReutersFTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was detained there while awaiting proceedings, and Mangione currently remains among its roughly 1,300 inmates.
Maduro is not the first head of state to be imprisoned at MDC Brooklyn.
Former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández was held there during his trial for trafficking vast quantities of cocaine into the United States.
Hernández received a 45-year sentence before being pardoned and released by President Donald Trump in December.
Nicolas Maduro was seen standing in a grey Nike tracksuit, wearing dark goggles and ear defenders, and holding a bottle of water aboard the USS Iwo Jima | TRUTH SOCIALMaduro faces accusations of running a cocaine trafficking operation that worked alongside violent criminal organisations including Mexico's Sinaloa and Zetas cartels, Colombian FARC rebels, and Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang.
The deposed leader has consistently rejected all allegations, claiming they serve as a pretext for American designs on his country's vast oil reserves.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed that Maduro will face prosecution, though no timeline for trial has been established.
The Bureau of Prisons maintains that conditions at MDC Brooklyn have improved substantially in recent times.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi said improvements have been made
| REUTERSAdditional correctional and medical personnel have been recruited, more than 700 outstanding maintenance requests addressed.
Upgrades have also made to electrical systems, plumbing, food services and climate control.
"In short, MDC Brooklyn is safe for the inmates and staff," the Bureau stated in September.
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