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Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, 64, was taken into custody by U.S. special forces early on the 3rd and placed at the New York Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC), a facility known for its substandard conditions. Maduro will only be moved from the facility for court appearances and other legal matters.

Approximately 5:25 p.m. on that day, the Maduro couple, accompanied by federal agents, was taken to the Stewart Air National Guard Base in New York, where they boarded a helicopter heading to a helipad in western Manhattan. They were subsequently driven to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) office nearby and went through the intake process. The White House released video showing Maduro walking alongside two DEA officers, dressed in a black hoodie, black pants, socks, and black sandals. The video seems to have been shot inside the DEA headquarters. He spoke in English to those present, saying, “Good night and happy new year.”

Following the completion of the procedures at the DEA, the Maduro couple reboarded a helicopter and were taken to the MDC in Brooklyn. The facility has previously housed prominent individuals including rapper R. Kelly, hip-hop executive Sean Diddy Combs, Ghislaine Maxwell, ex-partner of convicted child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, Sam Bankman-Fried, co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, and former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández.

Following Maduro’s entry into the MDC, authorities notified the people gathered outside the building that he had been detained. The New York Times stated, “The waiting crowd cheered and started waving Venezuelan flags and singing.” It is still uncertain if his wife, Cilia Flores, was also held at the same location.