Nicholas Maduro, captured by the United States, poses for a commemorative photo with law enforcement officers who escorted him as he was transferred to the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in Brooklyn, New York. [Photo = UN News] 

Nicholas Maduro, captured by the United States, took a commemorative photo with law enforcement officers, including those from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), who escorted him on his transfer to the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in Brooklyn, New York, on the 3rd (local time).

He was seen giving a thumbs-up while handcuffed, with an air of ease on his face. 

Upon seeing the photo, one citizen remarked, "If it were his home country (Venezuela), where human rights are ignored, he probably wouldn't have been so relaxed," adding, "Maduro seems to have faith in the protection of human rights in the United States."

The MCC is notorious for its poor detention conditions and has held individuals such as △rapper Puff Daddy (real name Sean John Combs), a sex offender and drug offender, △Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's associate and accomplice, and △singer R. Kelly, a sex offender.

Cilia Flores, Maduro's wife, was also detained at the same correctional center. The couple had their first hearing on the 5th at 12:00 PM (local time) at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan, New York. 

Maduro (left) and his wife Flores at a New York courtroom. In courts where camera photography is prohibited, the media uses illustrations drawn by court sketch artists on-site instead of photographs. [New York AP=Yonhap News]

The hearing Maduro attended that day was an arraignment, a procedure in the U.S. criminal justice system where a judge asks a indicted defendant whether they plead guilty or not guilty before the trial.

In most cases, defendants plead not guilty, so a trial to determine guilt or innocence is held separately. The Maduros also pleaded not guilty during the hearing, which lasted about 30 minutes. The next court date has been scheduled for March 17th.

Reporter Im Yo-hee