Maduro & SBF: Shared Cell in NYC Jail

[블록미디어 이정화 기자] Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was arrested in a surprise operation by U.S. military special forces, became ‘cellmates’ with FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who is called ‘the greatest fraudster’.

According to foreign media such as CNN and the New York Times (NYT) on the 3rd (local time), President Maduro was imprisoned at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) located in Brooklyn, New York City that night.

This detention center where Maduro is imprisoned is famous for being a place where high-ranking prisoners pass through or are held. In particular, Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of virtual currency exchange FTX, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for embezzling trillions of won worth of customer funds, is also being imprisoned here.

It attracted attention that Maduro, who was the president of a country, was imprisoned under the same roof. Hip-hop mogul Sean Diddy Combs, who was also convicted of sex crimes, is also imprisoned here.

Before entering the detention center, Maduro showed a somewhat relaxed attitude. In a video released on White House social media, Maduro was captured greeting agents in Spanish and English as he walked through the hallway of the New York Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) branch building, saying, “Good night, Happy New Year.”

Perp walked.pic.twitter.com/34iIsFUDdG

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 4, 2026

However, the scene outside the detention center was different. The NYT reported that when a police officer on guard duty announced the news of Maduro’s admission through a loudspeaker, about 100 protesters gathered in front of the detention center cheered and waved Venezuelan flags.

This arrest operation was reminiscent of a spy movie. The United States deployed large-scale troops to the presidential safe house in Caracas, Venezuela, and arrested Maduro and his wife around 1 a.m. (Eastern time) on this day. They were transported by helicopter to the amphibious assault ship Iwo Jima, then passed through Guantanamo Bay Naval Base and arrived at Stewart Air Force Base in New York by flight arranged by the FBI.

Maduro, who was indicted on charges of drug trafficking and money laundering in March 2020 during the first term of the Trump administration, is expected to appear in Manhattan federal court next week. The U.S. Department of Justice supplemented the existing indictment to include Maduro’s wife, son, and close associates in the indictment, and stated that they had brought thousands of tons of cocaine into the United States in connection with Colombian rebels and drug cartels.