Inside MDC Brooklyn, the notorious jail holding Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro

New York: Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is being held at one of the most notorious federal jails in the United States — Metropolitan Detention Centre Brooklyn — a facility long criticised for violence, squalid conditions and repeated failures in inmate safety, according to court records, judges and former detainees.

Maduro, 63, and his wife, Cilia Flores, 69, were brought to the Brooklyn jail late Saturday after being captured in a dramatic overnight operation, transported aboard a US Navy ship and flown to the United States to face federal drug-trafficking charges.

Founded in 1994, MDC Brooklyn is the only federal jail in New York City for detainees awaiting trial. It currently houses about 1,300 men and women and has long faced criticism over overcrowding, violence, staffing shortages and unsanitary conditions.

Past and current inmates include singer R. Kelly, financier Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, and hip-hop mogul Sean Combs, whose lawyers previously described the jail as “inhumane.” Former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández was also detained there before his conviction on drug charges.

In 2019, detainees were left without heat or power for days during winter after an electrical fire. In 2024, two inmates were murdered in separate stabbings, prompting a Justice Department crackdown on violence and contraband smuggling.

Maxwell complained of raw sewage, mould and vermin during her detention, while Combs alleged guards served expired, maggot-infested food and said he narrowly avoided an attack with a makeshift weapon, according to court filings.

Federal judges have repeatedly raised concerns about MDC Brooklyn. In January 2024, US District Judge Jesse Furman described conditions at the jail as an “ongoing tragedy” and declined to send some defendants there.

By May 2025, Furman said conditions had improved “a lot,” citing increased staffing. In a September 2025 report, the Bureau of Prisons said violence had fallen sharply and the inmate population had dropped from about 1,600 to 1,300.

That same month, however, prosecutors charged 25 people in connection with violence and contraband smuggling at the jail, including a former guard accused of bringing in drugs and cigarettes, and an alleged gang member accused of hiding ceramic scalpels inside a bag of snacks.

Former MDC warden Cameron Lindsay said Maduro is likely to be held separately from the general population because of security risks.

“This is obviously a super-sensitive, high-security operation,” Lindsay said. He added that Maduro and his wife could be confined to their cells for up to 23 hours a day, with meals delivered to them and limited access to exercise and showers.

Legal experts say high-profile detainees face heightened risks from other inmates seeking notoriety, making isolation more likely.

The Bureau of Prisons has acknowledged the jail’s aging infrastructure and past staffing problems but insists conditions have improved and that the facility is safe for inmates and staff.

- with inputs from Reuters