A prison in Venezuela that was run by inmates – and boasted its own zoo, swimming pool and nightclub – has reportedly been taken back into Government control.
Reports say that 11,000 security personnel were deployed to Tocorón prison, which had been run by inmates for years and was under the control of the powerful Tren de Aragua criminal gang.
A video shared by a Venezuelan lawyer shows the notorious penitentiary had an enclosure that was home to a number of pink flamingos. Its zoo was also reportedly home to tigers, lions, crocodiles and pumas
Prisoners were apparently able to roam freely inside the penitentiary. But Venezuela’s interior minister has vowed that the jail will now be completely cleared of inmates – and their guests.
Some of the prisoners had reportedly moved their partners and relatives into the penitentiary. One woman, Gladys Hernández, told AFP news agency: “I was living in there, but they kicked us out.” She said she is now waiting to hear where they were taking her husband.
The prison was the headquarters of the Tren de Aragua, said to be Venezuela’s most powerful transnational gang. Tren de Aragua’s criminal empire spans several Latin American countries and reached as far as Chile. The gang is allegedly involved in human trafficking, prostitution and extortion.
The prison held race nights where inmates could place bets on horses, had a makeshift bank that arranged loans – and its own nightclub, called ‘Tokio’. It also boasted a baseball field and an illegal cryptocurrency mining operation.
During the height of Venezuela’s economic crisis, when food and other essentials were scarce, locals would reportedly go to Tocorón to buy items they could not get anywhere else. AFP reported seeing security guards carrying motorcycles, televisions and microwaves from the jail as its inmates were moved.
Tocorón is said to have functioned “like a little city”. Ronna Rísquez, author of the book Tren de Aragua: The gang that revolutionised organised crime in Latin America told BBC Mundo’s Valentina Oropeza that clearing the prison did not mean the gang was finished.
“Their centre of operations has been closed down, but the leaders of this organisation and its cells abroad can continue functioning,” she said.
Photos show a vast arsenal of guns, ammunition, hand grenades and explosives that were seized from inside the jail.
Venezuala’s government, which is led by President Nicolás Maduro, congratulated the security forces on “re-establishing order” at the prison and praised them for the “clean and quick actions”. However, a later statement said that a “second phase” of the operation had been launched.
The government said this second phase would involve “capturing all and every one of the escaped criminals”. Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional reported that between 400 to 500 prisoners were still missing.
Other local media reports that the fugitives may be hiding out in the mountain area near El Junquito. The government has not released the names of the escapees – but some local media says that the leader of the Tren de Aragua gang, Héctor Guerrero Flores, may be among those on the run.
Guerrero Flores was serving a 17-year sentence for murder and drug trafficking. But it is claimed that he became so powerful that he would come and go freely from the prison, before becoming a full-time inmate, reports the BBC.
