NICOLAS MADURO has been held in a “jail inside of a jail” under special administrative measures, officials revealed today ahead of the Venezuelan leader’s appearance in court.

Mr Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were expected to appear in a federal court in Manhattan today for the first time in nearly three months after US forces invaded the country and abducted the pair. The kidnap and trial of a serving head of state violates international law.

He has been kept in a secure unit for highest-risk detainees at the Metropolitan Detention Centre (MDC) in Brooklyn, New York, law enforcement sources told CBS News, under what corrections officers dub the “SAMs unit.”

Special administrative measures are designed to restrict contact with the outside world.

The measures are put in place for 120 days but can be renewed indefinitely.

Ms Flores is being held in a different unit in the same facility.

Sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein was an inmate at the prison, where he died in 2019.

It is known for housing other high-profile defendants in the past, such as Sean “Diddy” Combs and Ghislaine Maxwell, but unlike Mr Maduro, they were not reported to be under the extreme measures.

The designation means that all of Mr Maduro’s activities take place within the unit, where he will stay until he is either acquitted or convicted and sentenced.

He only leaves his cell to shower, visit his lawyer or go for solo recreation for an hour a day, according to the source.

Those under the measures are under 24-hour surveillance and isolated from other inmate contact.

US prosecutors have accused Mr Maduro of “narco-terrorism” and plotting to traffic cocaine into the US.

If convicted, the charges could carry maximum penalties of life in prison.

Mr Maduro has always denied wrongdoing, saying the charges were an excuse for regime change. In his first court appearance, he stated that he considers himself a prisoner of war.

His lawyer contends that Washington is violating his constitutional rights by blocking Venezuelan government funds from being used to pay his legal costs.

The hearing was expected to take place after the Morning Star went to print.