bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

knowledgeQuestion

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

Venezuela said it had seized control of a prison from the hands of a powerful gang with international reach, in a major operation involving 11,000 members of its security forces.
The Tocoron prison had served as the Tren de Aragua gang’s headquarters, where it had installed amenities such as a zoo, a pool and gambling rooms, according to an investigative journalist recently interviewed by Agence France-Presse.
In a statement, the government congratulated law enforcement officers for regaining “total control” of the prison in the northern state of Aragua, adding the operation had “dismantled a centre of conspiracy and crime”.
And in an official proclamation, President Nicolas Maduro praised “today’s great success in the fight against criminal organisations”.

After the government announced a complete evacuation of the jail, Interior Minister Remigio Ceballos told state broadcaster VTV that the inmates were being transferred to another facility.
Dozens of relatives who had been living inside the prison with sentenced inmates gathered outside for news.
Inside El Salvador ‘mega prison’ holding 12,000 accused gang members
“I am waiting to hear where they are taking my husband … I was living in there, but they kicked us out,” said Gladys Hernandez.
Security officers were seen carrying motorcycles, televisions, air conditioners and microwaves out of the jail.
“That’s ours!” shouted one of the women outside.
It appeared some inmates escaped during the operation, as a later government statement announced a “second phase” of the operation for the “search and capture” of “fugitive criminals”.
Tren de Aragua, Venezuela’s most powerful local gang, is involved in crime countrywide and has spread its tentacles to neighbouring nations.
According to an investigation by Venezuelan journalist Ronna Risquez, the gang has some 5,000 members.

It emerged a decade ago, and is involved in kidnappings, robberies, drug trafficking, prostitution and extortion. Tren de Aragua is also connected to illegal gold mining.
The InSight Crime think tank says the gang is also a major player in migrant smuggling.
Risquez said the gang “took advantage” of Venezuela’s economic and political crises over the past decade to expand operations, and is now present in at least eight other Latin American countries.
At least 41 women die in Honduras prison riot blamed on gangs
She said Tocoron had been entirely in the hands of the gang.
“Inside, the men I have seen with guns are prisoners belonging to the organisation. They guard the prison but not for the state.”
She described the prison as a “hotel” for the gang leaders, with a bank, baseball field, a restaurant and even a disco.

The gang’s leader is Hector Guerrero Flores, who was serving a 17-year sentence in the prison for murder and drug trafficking, said Carlos Nieto, coordinator of A Window for Freedom, a prison rights NGO.
Nevertheless, prior to the operation he appeared to come and go from Tocoron at will, said Risquez.
According to the Venezuelan Observatory of Prisons, the country’s prisons are more than 50 per cent overcrowded, with poor detention conditions.
Nieto said the raid was recognition of “the prison chaos we are experiencing and how negligent” the government had been in solving it.


China invites Colombia to join Belt and Road Initiative, ‘exploring’ free-trade agreement

Latin America split on Columbus and indigenous resistance, Spain’s colonial legacy

Elon Musk’s X pays US$5.2 million in Brazil fines to wrong bank account

Frustrated with US, Argentina’s Milei seeks rapprochement with China

Americas and the Caribbean

Venezuela seizes control of gang-run prison that had pool, zoo and disco

Inmates aboard a bus were transferred  from the prison to other facilities. Photo: AFP

Security forces outside the Tocoron prison. Photo: AFP

Relatives of the inmates. Photo: AFP

Armoured vehicles used in the raid. Photo: AFP

How Ecuador became one of the most violent countries in Latin America

Relatives and friends of slain Ecuadorean presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio attend his funeral in Quito on Friday. Photo; AFP

Armed forces transfer the criminal leader Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, known as “Fito”, to a maximum security prison in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Photo: Handout via Reuters

Police officers gather confiscated material during a joint operation with the armed forces at a prison in Guayaquil, Ecuador, on Saturday. Photo: AFP

At least 41 women die in Honduras prison riot blamed on ‘mara’ gangs

Prison guards watch inmates at the Women’s Centre for Social Adaptation prison in Honduras on Tuesday following a brawl between rival gangs. Photo: AFP

Relatives of inmates in distress outside the prison. Photo: AP

Police and military outside the prison. Photo: EPA-EFE

At least 116 dead in Ecuador prison gang clash, some beheaded

A relative of an inmate awaits news outside the prison. Photo: AP

TOPSHOT - Inmates are seen on top of the prison roof during a riot at the Guayaquil Regional prison in Guayaquil, Ecuador on September 28, 2021. - A new riot in a prison in Ecuador left 24 prisoners dead and 48 wounded on Tuesday, aggravating the prison situation due to clashes between gangs linked to drug trafficking that have already left some 120 detainees dead so far this year. (Photo by Fernando Mendez / AFP)

(210929) -- GUAYAQUIL, Sept. 29, 2021 (Xinhua) -- Photo taken on Sept. 28, 2021 shows a firearm seized by policemen at the prison where riots broke out in Guayaquil, Ecuador. At least 24 inmates were killed and another 48 were injured in clashes Tuesday at the Litoral Penitentiary located in the coastal city of Guayaquil, in southwestern Ecuador, authorities and the National Police said. (Polic¨ªa Nacional de Ecuador/Handout via Xinhua)

(210929) -- GUAYAQUIL, Sept. 29, 2021 (Xinhua) -- Policemen search the cells at the prison where riots broke out in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Sept. 28, 2021. At least 24 inmates were killed and another 48 were injured in clashes Tuesday at the Litoral Penitentiary located in the coastal city of Guayaquil, in southwestern Ecuador, authorities and the National Police said. (Polic¨ªa Nacional de Ecuador/Handout via Xinhua)

Inside the El Salvador ‘mega prison’ holding 12,000 accused gang members

The prison, formally known as the Terrorism Confinement Centre, was built to hold 40,000 inmates. Photo: AFP

Authorities accuse nearly all of the Tecoluca prisoners of belonging to the violent rival MS-13 and Barrio 18 gangs. Photo: El Salvador Presidency Press Office via AFP 

Police officers watch over new arrivals. File photo: El Salvador Presidency Press Office via AFP 

A guard tower at mega prison. Photo: AFP

News

World

Americas

The Tocoron prison had served as the headquarters for Venezuela’s most powerful local gang
Prison was described a ‘hotel’ for gang leaders, with a bank, baseball field, a restaurant and even a disco


The Tocoron prison had served as the headquarters for Tren de Aragua, Venezuela’s most powerful local gang.


Venezuela

Venezuela seizes control of gang-run prison that had pool, zoo and disco

The Tocoron prison had served as the headquarters for Venezuela’s most powerful local gang Prison was described a ‘hotel’ for gang leaders, with a bank, baseball field, a restaurant and even a disco

The Tocoron prison had served as the headquarters for Venezuela’s most powerful local gang

Prison was described a ‘hotel’ for gang leaders, with a bank, baseball field, a restaurant and even a disco