Following his apprehension by U.S. forces, former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro is now incarcerated at Brooklyn’s infamous Metropolitan Detention Centre – the same prison that Sean P. Diddy Combs once referred to as ‘hell on earth.’
Maduro, who held the presidential office in Venezuela for over a decade, was seized in Caracas during a synchronised military operation on 3 January 2026. He was subsequently transported to the United States and is currently detained at the notorious prison, awaiting federal charges including narco-terrorism conspiracy and cocaine importation conspiracy.
The Metropolitan Detention Centre, commonly known as MDC Brooklyn, is a federal jail primarily used to detain individuals before and during their trials in Manhattan and Brooklyn courts. Over time, it has been home to several high-profile detainees, including R.Kelly, Luigi Mangione, and notably, Combs.
During his trial in Autumn 2025, Combs was found guilty of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution under the federal Mann Act. He was acquitted of the more severe charges of sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.
He received a sentence of four years and two months and was transferred to New Jersey’s FCI Fort Dix prison.
Combs did not remain silent about the conditions at MDC after being sent there following his arrest in late 2024 on sex trafficking and other related charges. In legal documents pertaining to the case, his representatives have depicted the conditions at MDC as uninhabitable.
In court documents opposing his requests for house arrest, his lawyer argued that the jail is ‘not fit for pretrial detention’ and highlighted concerns expressed by district judges about its conditions.
The jail’s conditions have been repeatedly described as ‘hell on earth,’ a phrase drawn from descriptions by legal representatives and others familiar with the facility.
Advocates for inmates and lawyers for detainees have depicted the jail as ‘an overcrowded, understaffed and neglected federal jail that is hell on earth,’ citing violence among other issues.
MDC has also come under scrutiny for problems such as inmate violence, staffing shortages, infrastructure breakdowns and deaths, including stabbings and suicides.
Combs has also been indirectly quoted through reporting on his attorneys’ comments about the jail’s conditions. His legal team cited recent detainee deaths and safety concerns in filings that described the jail as unsuitable for pretrial detention.
At MDC, detainees may be housed in different units depending on classification and security needs.
The facility operates under the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, which has stated it has worked to address some of the facility’s problems by adding staff and updating infrastructure, though the facility’s reputation remains a focus of reporting and legal arguments.
Maduro was processed upon arrival in New York and taken to the jail under federal custody following his capture ordered by Trump.
The accusations levelled against Maduro originate from a 2020 indictment, which implicates him in narco-terrorism and drug trafficking activities that resulted in significant quantities of narcotics entering the United States.
After his arrest, he was transported to a federal court in Manhattan where proceedings related to these charges are anticipated to commence.
