Maduro’s Prison: A Hell on Earth Account

Trump fulfilled his threat and now, few news are as relevant as the capture of the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro. Last Saturday, this Caribbean country experienced an early morning of terror under American attacks in parts of the capital and surrounding regions. Some celebrate, others criticize, but what is certain is that the day, on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, left no one indifferent.

Maduro is in US custodyspecifically in New York, where he will be tried for the crimes of narcoterrorism conspiracy and weapons possession automatic, among other charges. But until the day comes, the former Venezuelan president will have to live in a federal prison baptized as “hell on earth”, located in the borough of Brooklyn.

New York Metropolitan Detention Center

Sure, a prison with such a reputation cannot be a peaceful place, but no federal pressure is. The watchdog of the Department of Justice detected the death of 344 inmates due to suicide, homicide or accidents in a period of eight years in this type of centers. But, even worse, of the 344 inmate deaths recorded, more than half (187) were suicides.

He Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) It is at the top of the most atrocious federal prisons to live in. At least four inmates have committed suicide there in the last three years, according to statements by ‘P Diddy’s’ legal team for ‘The Daily Beast’. Conditions at the center worsened when the last inmates of the Center Metropolitan Correctional Facility (MCC) in Manhattan (where Jeffrey Epstein took his own life) They were transferred to their facilities in 2021 due to their deteriorated condition, but the MDC is not far away.

Today, Brooklyn Federal Prison is the only one of its kind in New York. It has capacity for about 1,600 inmates, but no personnel prevents its correct maintenanceleading to constant lockdowns, outbreaks of violence, and delays in access to medical care. In 2024, an inmate, Uriel Whyte, was stabbed to death while awaiting trial, and just over a month later, another inmate, Edwin Cordero, died after a fight.

In 2024, Judge Gary Brown acknowledged the “dangerous and barbaric conditions” stating that he would vacate an elderly man’s nine-month sentence if he was sent to the MDC. Brown has not been the only one, at least three other judges have refused to order entry of defendants in this prison in recent years for the same reason, according to US media such as ‘The Brooklyn Eagle’.

Health problems in prison

The television channel NY1 carried out in the summer of last year a report with exclusive videos from the interior from jail. There they confirmed that an inmate in confinement leaves his cell “every three days for a 15-minute shower.” They also pointed out the lack of medical care and serious hygiene problems. “Passing through the worms in food“Even violence happens at MDC,” said David Patton, former director of the New York Federal Defenders for the network.

NY1 also obtained video showing cockroaches in the food, broken lights and mold in the showers. Other media collect testimonies about a power outage in the winter of 2019 which forced inmates to remain in freezing cells for several days.

Famous MDC inmates

In addition to Nicolás Maduro, Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) has housed several high-profile inmates over the years. Among the best known names is that of Ghislaine Maxwell, close associate of Jeffrey Epstein, who was detained there while awaiting trial on charges related to sex trafficking and child abuse, as well as el rapero Sean “P. Diddy” Combs.

Other profiles like Ismael “El Mayo” Zambadahistorical leader of the Sinaloa cartel, Luigi Mangione (murderer of Brian Thompson, CEO de UnitedHealthcare)the Fyre Festival scammer Billy McFarland, el rapero R Kelly, who was convicted of child sexual abuse and Juan Orlando Hernandezformer president of Honduras, have also spent long stays in this terrifying federal prison.