Venezuela’s Maduro being held at a troubled Brooklyn jail following capture by US

BROOKLYN - Mr Nicolas Maduro, the Venezuelan president captured by the United States
on Jan 3, is being held in a notorious Brooklyn jail complex that has been plagued by scandal and accusations of mismanagement.

The Metropolitan Detention Center is a hulking facility in Brooklyn that, for decades, has held some of the US’ most infamous accused criminals as they await trial.

Known as the MDC, the jail is one of the largest federal prisons in the country, housing around 1,600 inmates at any given time. While some face serious charges like international drug trafficking or terrorism, the vast majority face lesser crimes. The jail centre is a sort of way station for the detainees as they await trial or sentencing.

It is also deeply troubled.

In recent years, it has been the scene of stabbings and killings. It became New York City’s only federal jail centre in 2021, when the Justice Department shut down the Metropolitan Correction Center in Manhattan, at least temporarily, because of deteriorating conditions.

In 2019, the complex was plunged into a weeklong blackout when the jail’s heating and electricity shut down during a polar vortex, when temperatures in the city dipped into single digits. A Justice Department report found officials had gravely mishandled the crisis.

Mr Maduro, who was taken to the jail on Jan 3, will join the ranks of high-profile detainees who have passed through the MDC.

Others include Ghislaine Maxwell, the partner of convicted sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein; Sean “Diddy” Combs; and singer R. Kelly, convicted of sex trafficking.

Mr Maduro faces federal charges of narco-terrorism and conspiracy to import cocaine into the US. He and his wife, Ms Cilia Flores, are expected to make their first court appearance soon in Manhattan. NYTIMES