Authorities launch ‘interagency operation’ at New York federal prison housing Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs

NEW YORK – Investigators from several federal agencies launched an “interagency operation” Monday at the troubled New York City lockup where Sean “Diddy” Combs is being held.

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

The law 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 about the operation Monday morning.

But the move comes as the prison faces increasing criticism for horrific conditions, rampant violence and multiple deaths, and amid an effort by the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Prisons to fix the prison’s problems and to hold perpetrators accountable.

Last month, federal prosecutors charged nine inmates in connection with a spate of attacks from April to August at the Metropolitan Detention Center, the only federal prison in New York City. The charges, made public last month, detail serious safety and security problems at the prison, including charges after two inmates were stabbed to death and another stabbed in the spine with a makeshift ice pick. A correctional officer was also accused of shooting at a car during an unauthorized high-speed chase.

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

In a statement on Monday, the Bureau of Prisons said the operation in Brooklyn was pre-planned and there is “no active threat.”

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

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

Those held in the Brooklyn jail have long complained of rampant violence, terrible conditions, severe staff shortages and the widespread smuggling of drugs and other contraband, some of which is facilitated by employees. At the same time, they say they are regularly locked down and are not allowed to leave their cells for visitors, phone calls, showering or exercising.