Where was Jeffrey Epstein arrested
Executive summary
Jeffrey Epstein was arrested on July 6, 2019 when federal agents detained him as he returned to the United States at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey; he was then charged in Manhattan federal court and transported to the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City [1] [2] [3]. Confusion in some reporting stems from the distinction between the physical location of arrest (Teterboro) and the forum that prosecuted him (Southern District of New York, Manhattan) [2] [3].
1. The arrest: a federal takedown at Teterboro Airport
Multiple official and reputable accounts state that Epstein was stopped when his private jet landed at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey on July 6, 2019 and taken into custody by the FBI–NYPD Crimes Against Children Task Force, which carried out the arrest as he returned from France [1] [4] [2] [5].
2. Why some headlines say “arrested in New York” — the prosecutorial venue
Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York filed sex‑trafficking charges and Epstein was presented in Manhattan federal court, which led many outlets to describe the case as a New York arrest; the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced the charges and his expected appearance before a Manhattan magistrate [3] [6].
3. The booking and detention: MCC New York
After the Teterboro arrest, Epstein was transported to and held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in Lower Manhattan, New York, where he remained in federal custody awaiting trial and where the events surrounding his death later occurred [2] [7].
4. The timeline matters: July 6, 2019 and the return flight from Paris
Contemporaneous timelines and later reporting note the arrest occurred on July 6, 2019 as Epstein arrived from Paris; outlets including the AP and BBC summarized that he was arrested after flying back on his private jet and booked on federal sex‑trafficking charges that covered alleged conduct in New York and Palm Beach [8] [9] [3].
5. Why the location question still circulates — reporting shorthand and nuance
Confusion persists because some summaries collapse “arrested” with “charged” or describe the case geographically by where the alleged crimes occurred (New York and Palm Beach) or by the court handling the prosecution, rather than the precise spot of physical detention at Teterboro Airport; both the DOJ’s charge announcement and oversight reports spell out that the physical arrest was in New Jersey while prosecution and detention were in Manhattan [3] [2].
6. Sources and competing phrasing — weighing authority
Primary government records and the DOJ/SDNY press release, along with the Department of Justice OIG report and major outlets, consistently identify Teterboro as the place of arrest and Manhattan as the prosecutorial locus, while some outlets or later summaries use “arrested in New York” as shorthand tied to his court appearance and detention — a difference of phrasing, not of underlying fact [3] [2] [5] [10].
7. Final portrait: arrested in New Jersey, charged and held in New York
The clearest synthesis of available reporting is that Epstein was physically arrested at Teterboro Airport, New Jersey, on July 6, 2019 by federal agents; he was charged by prosecutors in the Southern District of New York, presented in Manhattan federal court, and transported to MCC New York for detention [2] [3] [1].