Maduro's brazen gestures to onlookers as he arrives at rat-infested 'hell hole' prison in Brooklyn
The former president was transported to the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention on Saturday, just hours after US officials seized him and his wife from their home in Caracas.
Ousted Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro appeared to throw a peace sign and a thumbs up as he was escorted into the hellish New York City prison where he will be held pending trial.
The former president was transported to the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention on Saturday, just hours after US officials seized him and his wife from their home in Venezuela's capital Caracas.
Maduro appeared relaxed despite the narcoterrorism charges which have been levelled at him by the Trump administration.
The former leader donned a hoodie as he was led handcuffed into the notorious detention center which has a reputation for squalid conditions and other high profile inmates.
Potential cellmates at the institution include accused assassin Luigi Mangione and Sean 'Diddy' Combs. Sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell was previously held at the facility but has since been transferred to a more cushy prison.
US Army Delta Force soldiers snatched Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in the early hours of Saturday before extraditing them on drug trafficking charges.
They landed by helicopter in Manhattan on Saturday evening, after earlier making stops at airfields in upstate New York and Puerto Rico.
He was transported to a DEA office in downtown Manhattan for processing before transfer to the prison.
As US officials escorted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro out of a cavalcade of white vans, he flashed onlookers a thumbs up
Maduro appeared to be calm and in good spirits throughout the hectic day of his arrest
The president was booked in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn where he will await his trial
They arrived there Saturday via helicopter and motorcade before 9pm.
The high-profile center is known for 'inhumane' and 'barbaric' conditions, Axios reports.
Judges have previously condemned the federal prison and even commuted the sentences of inmates housed there due to the rough conditions.
CNN reported the Metropolitan Detention Center to be cold and riddled with rats.
Maduro will reportedly be held there as he awaits trial. His initial hearing could begin in the next 36 hours.
Earlier in the evening, Maduro was taken to be booked at the US Drug Enforcement Office, where he was expected to be fingerprinted.
In footage of the president being escorted through the offices, he appeared relaxed as officers on either side walked him down a hallway.