Located within sight of the Statue of Liberty, a jail in Brooklyn, described as a “hell on earth” and an “ongoing tragedy,” is where Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is being held. Maduro is being detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, a jail widely regarded as one of the most troubled federal facilities in the United States.
Some judges have previously refused to send inmates there because of concerns over safety and living conditions. The jail has housed high-profile inmates, including music stars R. Kelly and Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Maduro Not First Former President To Be Imprisoned At MDC
Maduro is not the first former president to be imprisoned at MDC Brooklyn. Juan Orlando Hernandez, the former president of Honduras, was held there while on trial for drug-trafficking charges. He was later convicted and sentenced to 45 years in prison before being pardoned and released by US President Donald Trump in December.
The MDC, which opened in the early 1990s, currently houses around 1,300 inmates. Current inmates include Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada García, a co-founder of Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel, and Luigi Mangione, who is accused of killing the CEO of UnitedHealthcare.
Earlier in 2024, two prisoners were killed by fellow inmates, and several jail workers were charged with accepting bribes or providing contraband. In 2019, a power outage left inmates without heat or electricity for a week during the winter.
However, the Federal Bureau of Prisons says conditions have improved in recent years. It has added correctional and medical staff, fixed hundreds of maintenance issues, and upgraded electrical, plumbing, food-service and heating systems.
While detained, Maduro may meet familiar people if he is allowed out of isolation. These include former Venezuelan spy chief Hugo Carvajal and alleged Tren de Aragua gang member Anderson Zambrano-Pacheco, who was arrested in New York on firearms charges.
