Maduro is held at MDC Brooklyn, a jail judges have criticized

MDC Brooklyn, a jail some judges have avoided

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, according to an Associated Press report published Sunday. The AP said the jail, known as MDC Brooklyn, is a troubled facility that some judges have refused to send people to, even though it has housed high-profile inmates including music stars R. Kelly and Sean “Diddy” Combs.

The facility, which opened in the early 1990s, currently houses about 1,300 inmates, the AP reported. It described MDC Brooklyn as the routine landing spot for people awaiting trial in federal courts in Manhattan and Brooklyn, including alleged gangsters and drug traffickers alongside some people accused of white collar crimes.

Maduro’s capture and the crowd outside

The AP reported that Venezuelan expatriates gathered outside the jail on Saturday night to celebrate Maduro’s capture. The crowd cheered as a law enforcement motorcade believed to be carrying Maduro and his wife arrived at the facility.

The report said Maduro is not the first head of state to be locked up at MDC Brooklyn. It pointed to Juan Orlando Hernández, the former president of Honduras, who was imprisoned there while on trial for trafficking hundreds of tons of cocaine into the U.S. The AP said Hernández was convicted and sentenced to 45 years before being pardoned and freed by President Donald Trump in December.

A mix of detainees, and past inmates

In addition to Hernández, the AP said MDC Brooklyn has held other widely known defendants. The report said current detainees include Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada Garcia, described as the co-founder of Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel, and Luigi Mangione, who is accused of killing the CEO of UnitedHealthcare.

The AP also said past inmates have included crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried and longtime Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell. It said the jail is located next to a shopping mall in a waterfront industrial area and within sight of the Statue of Liberty, and noted that critics have described it, at its worst, as a “hell on earth” and an “ongoing tragedy.”

Complaints about violence and conditions

The AP reported that detainees and their lawyers have long complained about rampant violence at MDC Brooklyn. It said two prisoners were killed by other inmates in 2024, and that jail workers have been charged with accepting bribes or providing contraband.

The report also cited a winter 2019 power outage, when it said a weeklong incident plunged the facility and its inmates into cold darkness. It added that federal prison authorities say they have made changes more recently.

Bureau of Prisons says it made upgrades and reduced crime

Recently, the AP said the federal Bureau of Prisons has worked to improve conditions at the jail. The AP reported that the facility added correctional and medical staff, remedying more than 700 backlogged maintenance requests and addressing judges’ concerns. It said improvements were made to electrical and plumbing lines, food service, and heating and air conditioning systems.

The AP said the Bureau of Prisons also attempted to crack down on crime inside the lockup. It reported that last March, 23 inmates were charged with offenses ranging from smuggling weapons in a Doritos bag to the stabbing of a man convicted in the killing of hip-hop legend Jam Master Jay.

In September, the AP said the Bureau of Prisons stated, “In short, MDC Brooklyn is safe for the inmates and staff.” The AP also reported that the inmate population decreased from 1,580 as of January 2024, which it said led to a “substantial decrease” in crime and contraband.

Who Maduro may see there

The AP said Maduro is likely to see familiar faces if he is allowed out of the isolated quarters where he will initially be housed. It singled out co-defendant Hugo Carvajal, a former Venezuelan spy chief who it said broke ranks with Maduro in 2019 and has indicated he wants to cooperate with U.S. authorities.

The report also mentioned Anderson Zambrano-Pacheco, described as an alleged member of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang who was arrested in New York on firearms charges. The AP said Zambrano-Pacheco was among those caught on security video terrorizing residents at an apartment complex in a Denver suburb, and that President Donald Trump seized on that incident during his presidential campaign.

Scrutiny after a separate New York jail closed

The AP said MDC Brooklyn has drawn more scrutiny since 2021, when the Bureau of Prisons closed another New York City jail—the Metropolitan Correctional Center—after Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide there. The AP report said the closure followed scrutiny of that facility’s lax security, crumbling infrastructure, and dangerous, squalid conditions.