Joe Exotic and Jorge Flores Maldonado.
Joe Exotic’s spouse, Jorge Flores Maldonado, is voicing concerns about his current life in Tamaulipas, Mexico, following his deportation last week.
“The cartels are very active here — I cannot even go out on the street. They think I have money because of my husband,” Jorge revealed.
Jorge tied the knot with the Tiger King celebrity on April 22 while both were imprisoned in Texas.
The Tiger King figure, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, previously announced that his partner had been deported on May 19. Now, Jorge is opening up about his experience in Tamaulipas — a northeastern Mexican state known for organized crime and insecurity.
“There is a lot of organized crime here and there is no security,” Jorge told The New York Post.
“I am a very famous person and right now I run the risk of being kidnapped.”
Joe Exotic and his husband Jorge Flores Maldonado shared a photo together in April 2025.
Image: Joe Exotic / Instagram
Jorge added, “The cartels are very active here — I cannot even go out on the street. They think I have money because of my husband.”
Following Jorge’s arrest on May 16, he was taken to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) center to await a hearing. That hearing was supposed to decide whether he could stay in the U.S. or be deported. But according to Joe, Jorge was deported just hours later — a move also reported by TMZ.
Joe Exotic expressed frustration on Instagram, stating on May 19 that he remained in contact with his husband and was pleading for help from President Donald Trump.
“Rough day getting around. The ICE agents didn’t understand why he got sent back so fast. He had a hearing scheduled for tomorrow,” Joe wrote in a post.
He added, “[Donald Trump] just let me go to Mexico and you can keep Carole Baskin. I’m exhausted trying to figure out why you won’t listen to the evidence.”
The couple got married on April 22, a milestone Joe shared online after revealing their engagement back in October 2024.
“Never been more proud of someone,” Joe captioned a photo.
“Meet my husband, Jorge Flores Maldonado.”
Joe, who is currently serving time for conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, has been married five times to six partners — Jorge Flores Maldonado, J.C. Hartpence, Brian Rhyne, John Finlay, Travis Maldonado, and Dillon Passage. The latter two were part of a three-way marriage with Joe.
