'Pitch Hell': Maduro is being held in one of the worst detention centers in the US

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has been placed in a cell at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn. He and his wife, Cilia Flores, are expected to remain there pending the hearing of drug and weapons charges. The Brooklyn facility has been described as a living hell. BBC tells in more detail about the place where some judges even refuse to send convicts.

Maduro arrived in New York accompanied by two Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents. He adopted a humorous tone when greeting those who greeted him.

"Good night—that's 'buenas noches' in your opinion, right? Good night! Happy New Year!" he said.

Steel barriers and cameras

The MDC is a multi-story concrete and steel structure located in Brooklyn. It is just a few meters from New York Harbor and approximately 5 km from Fifth Avenue, Central Park, and other famous city landmarks.

In the early 1990s, the city's prisons were overcrowded, so they decided to open a new one. It was built on the site of former warehouses.

It was intended to house men and women facing trial in Manhattan and Brooklyn. However, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) website, MDC is used to house inmates serving short sentences.

It is currently the only facility in New York City operated by the BOP, as the agency closed a similar prison in Manhattan in 2019, following the mysterious suicide of American financier Jeffrey Epstein, who had been convicted of sex crimes.

On the subject: The case against Maduro is being led by a 92-year-old judge with a reputation for being stubborn and independent.

The temporary detention center is located between the U.S. Attorney's office and two federal courthouses. It is surrounded by steel barriers and cameras capable of long-range surveillance. Since Maduro's arrival at the prison, external security has been beefed up.

Despite the building's design, the center features outdoor exercise areas, medical offices, and even a library.

However, media reports claim that detainees spend most of the day in cramped cells. There has been no official information or comment on this matter.

"Inhumane conditions"

According to media reports, the facility was designed for 1000 people, but in 2019, the prison population reached 1600. Currently, according to the BOP, there are approximately 1330.

In addition, as of November 2024, the number of personnel in the isolation facility was half of the recommended level.

Experts believe that a combination of overcrowding and understaffing is one reason for the frequent violence that occurs at MDC.

The building's physical condition also raises concerns, which became particularly evident in 2019.

Then, due to a power outage, the people there were left without heat for several days in the middle of winter.

"The conditions at MDC are unacceptable and inhumane," New York State Attorney General Letitia James said at the time. She filed a lawsuit against the federal government, accusing it of maintaining the facility in disastrous condition.

"Deprivation of liberty should not mean deprivation of human rights," James noted.

Attorney Andrew Delac described the prison as "a living hell." One of his clients, Edwin Cordero, was stabbed to death there in 2024 by another inmate.

A number of suicides among prisoners were reported between 2021 and 2024.

Judges are also dissatisfied with the state of the penitentiary, as evidenced by their reluctance to send people there.

District Judge Gary Brown said in August 2024 that he would vacate the nine-month prison sentence he imposed on the 75-year-old convict.

He was charged with tax fraud. The judge said he would replace his actual incarceration with house arrest. The judge would have done this if the Federal Bureau of Prisons had sent him to Brooklyn's MDC.

Corruption allegations also drew attention to the prison. Last March, the US Department of Justice announced the prosecution of 25 people, including former employees and detainees, in 12 separate cases involving violence and possession of contraband.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons previously said in a statement that it "takes seriously our responsibility to protect individuals in our care and to ensure the safety of correctional officers and the public."

A bureau representative emphasized that an emergency team has been created to address issues at MDC. Additional staff is being recruited, and the accumulated service issues are being addressed.

The deaths of Cordero and others were followed by arrests.

Other famous prisoners

Despite reports of poor conditions, US authorities continue to send high-ranking detainees to MDC. And Maduro is far from the first Latin American politician to end up there.

Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández spent more than three years in the MDC, until June of last year. Then, a federal court sentenced him to 45 years in prison for drug trafficking. Hernández was subsequently transferred to another correctional facility. Remarkably, US President Donald Trump pardoned him last December.

Former Mexican Minister of Public Security Genaro García Luna also spent time in one of the MDC cells.

Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, one of Mexico's most notorious drug lords, was also held there. And Mexican Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, a leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, is still being held in the building, awaiting trial on drug trafficking charges.

Other high-profile prisoners include mobster John Gotti and members of al-Qaeda, who were arrested after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Rapper and music producer Sean Combs, known as P. Diddy, spent several months at the MDC. After his sentencing, he was transferred to another facility in New Jersey.

Among others, this prison held:

• Ghislaine Maxwell is an associate and former partner of Jeffrey Epstein;
• Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the bankrupt crypto platform FTX;
• Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's former personal lawyer, was sentenced to three years in prison for financial crimes.