Venezuelan police move in on gang-run Caracas
>>CARACAS: Venezuelan security forces entered four poor neighbourhoods of the capital Caracas on Friday seeking an end to two days of fighting with armed gangs that have claimed several lives, AFP has witnessed.
“We control the area but there may still be a few snipers,” an officer said.
No official toll has been given but local media say a dozen people have lost their lives since fighting broke out between gangsters and police in the neighbourhoods, or “barrios” on Wednesday — including several bystanders.
On Thursday, the authorities issued search warrants and offered rewards of up to US$500,000 (16 million baht) for gang bosses behind the deadly clashes but now on the run.
In sectors controlled by the Cota 905 gang, the ground was littered Friday with bullet casings, evidence of thousands of shots fired in two days, according to images on social media.
“It was like a war.
We hid and waited for it to pass,” Jesus Rey, a 40-year-old mechanic who lives in the neighbourhood said.
Interior Minister Carmen Melendez tweeted that police have “advanced in the dismantling of the criminal structures that have settled in these territories with the intention of sowing terror”.
About 800 members of the security forces were deployed in the operation, searching pedestrians and homes, and seizing cars, motorcycles and barrels of diesel thought to belong to the gangs.
In June, similar clashes killed at least three people including a nurse who fell victim to a stray bullet.
Friday was the first time in years the authorities have launched a major offensive against the heavily-armed gangs in de facto control parts of the capital.
Venezuela is one of the most violent countries on Earth.
In 2020, the country registered 12,000 violent deaths related to armed gangs, according to the Venezuelan Violence Observatory.
This is a rate of 45.6 per 100,000 inhabitants — seven times higher than the global average.