Maduro transferred from prison to court. Here is the infamous Brooklyn prison where he was incarcerated
The Brooklyn Federal Prison, notorious for serious deficiencies and incidents, houses the captured Venezuelan president, along with criminals and celebrities awaiting trial.
Key points
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, captured by US forces on Saturday, left the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn to be taken in armoured cars to court, where he is scheduled to appear in federal court in Manhattan later today. Sky News writes. The Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn is a federal prison facility that for years has been at the centre of scandals, investigations and allegations of serious management shortcomings. The New York Times reports this today.
The deposed president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, will appear before a federal judge in New York at noon (6pm in Italy) to be formally notified of the charges against him. Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were arrested by US forces during a dawn raid in Caracas on Saturday and taken to New York to face 'narcoterrorism' charges related to the alleged trafficking of tons of cocaine to the US.
The Metropolitan Detention Centre
The Metropolitan Detention Center, known as MDC, is a massive complex located in downtown Brooklyn that for decades has housed some of the most notorious inmates in the United States awaiting trial or final sentencing. It is one of the largest federal correctional institutions in the country, with a population of around 1,600 inmates. Alongside defendants accused of serious crimes such as terrorism or international drug trafficking, the majority of inmates are awaiting trial for petty crimes.
However, the facility is considered highly problematic. In recent years, it has been the scene of stabbings and murders and became New York's only federal prison in 2021, after the Department of Justice closed the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan due to deteriorating conditions inside.
In 2019, the centre ended up in the national spotlight for a week-long blackout, during which heating and electricity went out in the midst of a polar cold wave. A Justice Department report concluded that the crisis had been grossly mishandled by prison authorities.
