Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is set to be confined at the same facility that once housed high-profile figures like Diddy and Ghislaine Maxwell, as well as several other notable defendants, while they awaited their trials.
A source revealed to Fox News that Maduro will be held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. This development follows his capture during a dawn operation by U.S. forces at a heavily fortified residence in Venezuela. Maduro faces charges including narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, and possession of machine guns and destructive devices, among other serious allegations targeting the United States. The indictment also implicates his wife and son.
Previously, MDC Brooklyn has been the temporary home for several prominent inmates, such as Ghislaine Maxwell, Sam Bankman-Fried, and Michael Cohen, as they awaited their respective trials.
Interestingly, Maduro’s stay at MDC Brooklyn coincides with that of Luigi Mangione, who is accused of assassinating UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and is also awaiting trial.
Former President Donald Trump shared an image of Maduro in custody aboard the USS Iwo Jima following strikes on Venezuela, underscoring the latest developments. (Image via Donald Trump on Truth Social)
Judi Garrett, a former assistant director at the Federal Bureau of Prisons, informed Fox News Digital that she anticipates Maduro will be placed in a Special Housing Unit upon his arrival at MDC Brooklyn.
“I would expect [Maduro] would be held in [a Special Housing Unit] at the outset and then moved into one of the “special” units where other high profile individuals have been held,” Garrett said.
Garrett said MDC Brooklyn has “substantial experience with high profile defendants.”
Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro addresses supporters during a rally marking the anniversary of the 19th-century Battle of Santa Ines, Dec. 10, in Caracas, Venezuela. (Pedro Rances Mattey/Anadolu via Getty Images)
During an interview on “Fox & Friends Weekend,” President Donald Trump said Maduro got “bum rushed so fast” by American special forces.
“We waited four days. We were going to do this, four days ago, three days ago, two days ago. And then all of a sudden it opened up, and we said, ‘go,’” Trump said, adding that Maduro was in a “very highly-guarded” house.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe, left, President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio watch from Mar-a-Lago in Florida as the U.S. military carried out an operation and captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, early Saturday. (Donald Trump via TruthSocial)
“He was in a house that was more like a fortress than a house. It had steel doors. It had what they call a safety space, where it’s, you know, solid steel all around. He didn’t get that space closed. He was trying to get into it, but he got bum rushed so fast that he didn’t get into that,” Trump said. “We were prepared. We had, you know, massive blowtorches and everything else that you need to get through that steel. But we didn’t need it. He didn’t make it to that area of the house.”
Maduro was ultimately captured by the Army’s Delta Force, a U.S. official briefed on the matter told Fox News.
The source said the CIA provided the intelligence to the Department of War that ultimately helped track down the Venezuelan dictator.
