Caracas, Venezuela
Venezuelan Police found Bitcoin mining machines, guns with bucketloads of bullets, rocket launchers and grenades in a prison overrun by a powerful gang which they freed in an operation that reportedly involved 11,000 soldiers and cops.
On Thursday (Sept 21), the security personnel moved in, backed up by tanks and armoured vehicles, to free the Tocoron prison in the north-central state of Aragua, which served as the headquarters for the Tren de Aragua gang.
Tocoron prison was a haven for these gang members who had built hotel-like amenities like a pool, restaurant and a mini zoo for themselves.
The zoo had tigers, lions, crocodiles and pumas that were used to challenge prisoners and the authority of government officials.
The prison even had a nightclub named Tokio (Spanish for the Japanese city) where the criminals used to regularly party, and a restaurant were prisoners dined with their visitors.
Hotel-like amenities
There was also a baseball field, a room where gambling activities took place, and another where inmates mined cryptocurrency illegally.
The criminal group also set up small shacks where some members lived with their families and had access to satellite television and the internet.
During the raid, a major died after hitting his head on the door of an armoured car.
Ship with Ukraine grain back in Turkey under "humanitarian corridor"
The fact that members of Venezuela's most feared criminal gang had virtual control over the prison has given birth to speculations that the jail authorities may have been in cahoots with the Tren de Aragua.
Speaking to reporters, Interior and Justice Minister Remigio Ceballos said that four prison guards were arrested as suspected accomplices of gang members who had lived it up behind bars.
Some gang members escaped
"There will be no impunity. We will go against all the criminals and accomplices," Ceballos said, according to AFP.
He hailed a "successful operation that allowed us to strike a blow against criminal groups."
Also read | Scientists find new virus at depths of Pacific Ocean
After taking control of the prison, the government began evacuating its 1,600 inmates to other locations.
Also read | Zelensky meets Biden, warns Kyiv could lose if funding is cut
President Nicolás Maduro congratulated the armed forces for getting rid of the criminals.
“I congratulate the more than 11,000 members of the FANB (National Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela) and police forces for the successful intervention of the Tocorón Penitentiary Center,” Maduro wrote on X, moments after the raid.
“We are heading towards a Venezuela free of criminal gangs!”
During the operation, around 60 Tren de Aragua members were captured and four prison officials arrested for allegedly allowing the smuggling of weapons, Ceballos said on Thursday.
Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional reported that between 400 to 500 prisoners were still missing. Union Radio reported that the fugitives may be hiding out in the mountain area near El Junquito.
WATCH WION LIVE HERE