MDC Guaynabo
| Location | 652 Carretera 28, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico (next to Fort Buchanan) |
|---|---|
| Status | Active |
| Classification | Administrative (all security levels) |
| Capacity | not published |
| Population | 1,725 (undated Wikipedia figure; treat as approximate) |
| Opened | 1993 |
| Managed by | Federal Bureau of Prisons |
The Metropolitan Detention Center, Guaynabo (MDC Guaynabo) is an administrative-security federal detention facility in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, next to Fort Buchanan — the only federal detention center in Puerto Rico, serving both the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico and the District of the Virgin Islands.
The facility's defining stories are recurring contraband-smuggling prosecutions (constant since the 2010s, continuing into 2026), the unsolved 2013 assassination of a BOP lieutenant who investigated smuggling, and the Hurricane Maria evacuation of roughly 1,200 prisoners to Mississippi in 2017.
Facility
Address: 652 Carretera 28 (at Road 165), Guaynabo, PR 00965. Phone: (787) 749-4480. Opened 1993; male and female, all security levels, pretrial and awaiting sentencing. Visiting schedules rotate by housing unit — call before every visit.
Contraband and the Albarati Case
In July 2024, eight people were indicted for conspiring to introduce contraband; in December 2025, two more arrests; in July 2026, the FBI arrested the nephew of an inmate for attempted Suboxone smuggling. The through-line goes back to February 26, 2013, when BOP Lieutenant Osvaldo Albarati — known for contraband investigations — was shot dead on the De Diego Expressway in what investigators believed was retaliation possibly ordered from inside the facility. No charges were ever filed.
Hurricane Maria
When Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico in September 2017, roughly 1,200 federal prisoners were evacuated to FCI Yazoo City, Mississippi; they returned in early 2018 along with detainees temporarily held in Atlanta, Talladega, and Miami. A first-person account by a Puerto Rican federal inmate of the aftermath drew national attention.
In the News
- Eight indicted for conspiracy to introduce contraband into MDC Guaynabo — contraband ring indictments. DOJ, D.P.R. (July 23, 2024). [1]
- Nephew of MDC inmate arrested for attempted Suboxone smuggling — smuggling continues into 2026. FBI San Juan (July 1, 2026). [2]
- Two arrested for introducing contraband at MDC Guaynabo — Suboxone conspiracy arrests. DOJ, D.P.R. (December 2, 2025). [3]
Community Discussions
First-person threads from Reddit (r/prison and similar communities) — useful for what the official sources don't say:
- r/politics — a Puerto Rican inmate's account after Hurricane Maria — firsthand post-Maria conditions
- r/OnTheBlock — MDC Guaynabo — staff-side discussion
Notable Detainees and Residents
- Félix Verdejo — Olympic boxer; life sentence for the murder of Keishla Rodríguez (2023); now at USP Pollock
- Anuel AA — Latin trap artist; 30 months, released July 2018
- Áurea and Marcia Vázquez-Rijos — life sentences for the 2005 murder of Adam Anhang
- Al Sharpton and Edward James Olmos — briefly held in the 2001 Vieques protests
See Also
References
- ↑ "Eight indicted for conspiracy to introduce contraband into MDC Guaynabo". DOJ, D.P.R.. Retrieved November 10, 2026.
- ↑ "Nephew of MDC inmate arrested for attempted Suboxone smuggling". FBI San Juan. Retrieved November 10, 2026.
- ↑ "Two arrested for introducing contraband at MDC Guaynabo". DOJ, D.P.R.. Retrieved November 10, 2026.