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Authorities launch ‘multi-agency operation’ at New York prison housing Diddy
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Authorities launch ‘multi-agency operation’ at New York prison housing Diddy

Investigators from various federal agencies launched an “interagency operation” Monday into the troubled New York detention center where Sean “Diddy” Combs is being held.

Investigators from the Bureau of Prisons, the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General and other law enforcement agencies visited the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center on Monday, the Bureau of Prisons said in a statement to the Associated Press.

The enforcement operation is “designed to achieve our shared goal of maintaining a safe environment for both our employees and the incarcerated individuals housed at MDC Brooklyn,” the agency said. Prison officials declined to provide specific details of the operation Monday morning.

But the move comes as the prison faces increasing scrutiny due to horrific conditions, widespread violence and multiple deaths, and amid pressure from the Justice Department and Bureau of Prisons to resolve the prison’s problems and hold perpetrators accountable.

RELATED STORY | May trial date set for Sean “Diddy” Combs in sex trafficking case

Last month, federal prosecutors charged nine inmates in connection with a series of attacks between April and August at the Metropolitan Detention Center, New York’s only federal prison. The allegations made public last month detailed serious safety and security issues at the prison, including charges after two inmates were stabbed to death and another was stabbed in the spine with a fortune. A correctional officer was also accused of shooting at a car during an unauthorized high-speed chase.

The criminal charges opened a window into the violence and dysfunction that plagued the prison, which houses about 1,200 people, including Combs and Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX .

In a statement released Monday, the Bureau of Prisons said its Brooklyn operation was planned in advance and there was “no active threat.”

The agency said it would not provide additional details about what exactly investigators were doing there Monday until the operation is completed “in an effort to maintain the safety and security of all personnel inside the installation and the integrity of this operation”.

The facility, located in an industrial area of ​​the Brooklyn waterfront, has about 1,200 inmates, down from more than 1,600 in January. It is primarily used for post-arrest detention of persons awaiting trial in federal courts in Manhattan or Brooklyn. Other inmates are there to serve short sentences following convictions.

People detained at the Brooklyn jail have long complained of widespread violence, appalling conditions, severe understaffing and widespread smuggling of drugs and other contraband, some of which is facilitated by employees. At the same time, they say they have been subjected to frequent confinement and not allowed to leave their cells for visits, calls, showers or exercise.

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