Tocorón Prison inmates seated on the ground while being guarded by law enforcement agents. Photo: X/@NicolásMaduro.
The Venezuelan minister of the interior, Remigio Ceballos, has made a report regarding the intervention and seizure operations that took place in the TocorĂłn Penitentiary Center, located in Aragua State, and announced the beginning of the second phase of the Cacique Guaicaipuro Liberation Operation for the search, pursuit, and capture of fugitive criminals.
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“[The Penitentiary Center] is totally cleaned up, by instructions of President Nicolás Maduro, leveraged through the infrastructure of the Great Social Mission of Peace Quadrants. We have achieved a great victory, to completely transform this space where crime reigned,” Ceballos stated this Wednesday, September 20. “We have achieved the extraction and protection of those under incarceration, in accordance with international standards. In this great operation, we have guaranteed human rights, thanks to the coordinated work of the civic-military-police union.”
He further highlighted the “successful, clean, and impeccable” performance of the officers of the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB), the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB), the Bolivarian National Police (PNB), the Scientific, Criminal, and Forensic Investigations Corps (CICPC), as well as the intelligence corps of the Venezuelan state, such as the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM) and the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (Sebin).
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The minister continued his report, adding that following these actions, they are moving to the second phase of the Cacique Guaicaipuro Liberation Operation: “We are now moving to phase two, with the Ministry for the Penitentiary Service, together with the GNB, making searches of the premises,” he stated. “We have made a preliminary tour, detecting irregularities; we even detected tunnels, we prevented a massive escape, and we captured people with weapons. We are currently looking for other individuals and suspects.”
Ceballos emphasized the fact that they will not rest until those who transgress the law are brought to justice. He also announced that the current inmates of TocorĂłn will be transferred to 85 other penitentiaries across Venezuela, in order to ensure the safety and tranquility of nearby citizens and the inmate populations.
Approximately 11,000 security officers have been deployed to carry out this operation, in order to “restore and dignify the national penitentiary system.” No major human rights incidents have been reported over the course of the operation, which evidences the commitment of Venezuelan law enforcement agents to the values of human rights.
Many analysts and experts on crime have reported for several years the operation of the Tren de Aragua criminal gang from within the Tocorón Penitentiary Center; the gang is allegedly connected to the former Cota 905 Coqui criminal gang, which was disbanded by Venezuelan authorities in 2021. This serves to explain why the same operation name that was used to disband the Cota 905 Coqui gang, the Cacique Guaicaipuro Liberation Operation, is being used again in this instance. However, Venezuelan authorities have not yet been able to disband the Tren de Aragua.
(Alba Ciudad) with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/AU
