Tocorón prison: Venezuela recaptures gang-run prison with its own zoo

Venezuela claims it has taken back control of a well-known prison that was previously run by a dangerous criminal gang called Tren de Aragua.

Around 11,000 security officers were sent to Tocorón prison, which had been controlled by prisoners for a long time.

Prisoners could move around easily within the prison. The prison was like a hotel with a pool, nightclub, and mini zoo.

The minister in charge of prisons said that all the prisoners would be removed from the jail.

Tocorón not only had imprisoned bad people but also had their partners and relatives living there with them, to be close to them.

Gladys Hernández, a woman, said she was waiting to find out where they were taking her husband, according to AFP news agency.

“She said she used to live there, but they made us leave. ”

The jail was also used as the main base for the Tren de Aragua, which is Venezuela’s most powerful international gang.

Tren de Aragua, who was in jail, controlled a criminal group that operated in many Latin American countries, even reaching Chile.

The people involved in this group do bad things like forcing people into slave labor, operating illegal sex businesses and taking money from immigrants by threatening them.

The group made sure the prison had lots of nice things, like rooms to play games and a small zoo with flamingos and an ostrich.
Prisoners were able to bet on horse races, borrow money from an informal bank, and party at a nightclub called “Tokio”.

During Venezuela’s economic crisis, it was difficult to find food and basic items. A newspaper said that people would go to Tocorón to buy things they couldn’t find anywhere else.

The AFP journal reported that security guards were taking motorcycles, TVs, and microwaves out of the jail when the prisoners were being transferred.

Ronna Rísquez, who wrote the book Tren de Aragua: The gang that changed organized crime in Latin America, spoke to BBC Mundo’s Valentina Oropeza and said that Tocorón operated like a small city.

The writer also said that getting rid of the prisoners does not automatically mean the gang is gone too.

She said that their main place of work has been shut down, but the leaders of this group and its branches in other countries can still keep working.

Officials did not provide much information about how they entered the prison. The military said that someone had been hurt, a mayor who passed away from hitting his head on the armored car’s door.

The authorities are wondering if they made a deal with the Tren de Aragua because the operation at the dangerous gang’s jail went smoothly.

The government of President Nicolás Maduro praised the security forces for restoring order at the prison and praised their quick and effective actions.

However, a later announcement said that a “second part” of the operation had started, and the government said they were trying to catch all of the criminals who had escaped.

A few local news have said that the leader of the Tren de Aragua gang, Héctor Guerrero Flores, might be one of the people who ran away, but the government hasn’t identified any of the escapees.

Guerrero Flores was in jail for 17 years because he committed murder and sold drugs.

But, according to Carlos Nieto, a coordinator with a group that fights for prisoners’ rights called A Window to Freedom, he was very strong and could apparently move in and out of the prison whenever he wanted, even though he eventually became a full-time inmate.