Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are expected to make their first appearance before a US federal judge on Monday, after authorities confirmed that their case will be heard in the Southern District of New York, CBS News reported.
A spokesperson said the couple is scheduled to appear in federal court at 12 pm on Monday. The hearing will come just two days after Washington carried out what it described as a “large-scale strike against Venezuela,” during which Maduro and Flores were detained and removed from the country.
Maduro and his wife were captured in Caracas in a joint operation involving US intelligence agencies and law enforcement. Following their arrest, they were taken from their residence in the Venezuelan capital to the USS Iwo Jima warship and later flown to the United States to face criminal charges. Both arrived in New York on Saturday afternoon.
Maduro was transferred to the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC), a federal prison in Brooklyn, at around 8:52 pm Eastern Time on Saturday. As of late Saturday, he was not expected to be held in a separate wing of the facility, while details regarding Flores’ detention arrangements had not been disclosed, according to CBS News.
Built in the 1990s to ease overcrowding in federal prisons, the MDC has housed several high-profile inmates over the years.
Among them are singer R. Kelly, former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli, socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, former cryptocurrency executive Sam Bankman-Fried and music producer Sean “Diddy” Combs. Suspected cartel leader Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada García was also held at the facility while awaiting trial on murder and drug trafficking charges, CNN has reported.
US prosecutors have filed an indictment in the Southern District of New York against Maduro, members of his family and senior figures from his cabinet. The charges accuse the Venezuelan leader of conspiring to engage in alleged narco-terrorism and of facilitating the import of cocaine into the United States.
According to the indictment unsealed by Attorney General Pam Bondi, Maduro is also charged with possessing and conspiring to possess machine guns and other destructive weapons.
