Authorities inVenezuelaissued search warrants and offeredrewardsThursday of up to $500,000forgangbosses fueling deadly clashes between armed bandits and security forces in the capital Caracas.
The biggestrewardswere for three criminalleadersknown by their aliases of "Koki," "El Galvis" and "El Vampi," while others had prices of between $20,000and $50,000placed on their heads.
Koki, real name Carlos Luis Revete, is a leader of thegangCota 905, one of several involved in a fresh outbreak of running battles with police in the poorer neighborhoods of Caracas since Wednesday.
Local media say a dozen people have been killed, including a number of bystanders.
Venezuela, once a wealthy oil-producing nation, is in its fourth year of hyperinflation and its eight year of recession.
It is one of the most violent countries on Earth, with heavily armed gangs rife in poor neighborhoods.
Therewardsoffered are astronomical sums in a country where the monthly minimum wage is about $2.50 -- not enough to buy a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of meat.
In 2020,Venezuelaregistered 12,000violent deaths, according to the Venezuelan Violence Observatory. This is a rate of 45.6 per 100,000inhabitants -- seven times higher than the global average.