Photo: Yuri Cortez/AFP/Getty Images
Tocoron Prison, one of the largest in the country, was once controlled by inmates, many of whom were members of the “Tren de Aragua” transnational criminal gang, named after the state of Aragua.
On Wednesday, Venezuelan security forces including the Army and the National Guard carried out a special operation with more than 11,000 members to regain control of the prison.
Venezuelan Interior Minister Remigio Ceballos said the operation was a “huge success.” During a media tour on Saturday, Ceballos announced that 80 high-ranking members of the Tren de Aragua gang had been arrested after seizing control of the prison.
Mr Ceballos has denied allegations that the government negotiates with gang leaders.
“We have completely destroyed the leadership of Tren de Aragua. They are no more,” he told CNN de Espanol.
Photo: Yuri Cortez/AFP/Getty Images.
Journalists, including a CNNe team, were shown where inmates had built swimming pools and restaurants on the prison grounds over the years. After the raid, officials released photos of weapons seized from inmates, including multiple automatic rifles, machine guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition.
Thousands of prisoners were transferred to other prisons after the operation. However, relatives of the prisoners have denied this and said they have not seen the prisoners since the operation was carried out.
“I haven’t heard anything since it happened on Saturday,” said Claribel Rojas, the sister of an inmate at Tocoron prison. “I went yesterday and today and no one told me anything.”
While it is not uncommon for gangs to run prisons in Venezuela, the Tocoron Correctional Center is particularly notorious in the country and has for years become a symbol of the Venezuelan government’s incompetence.
Tren de Aragua is the largest gang in Venezuela. In recent years, the gang has spread to Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Argentina.
Nguyen Quang Minh (according to CNN)
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