Venezuelan faction used bunkers far from the city to store weapons

The Venezuelan Tren de Aragua faction, one of the largest criminal organizations in Latin America, was the target of an operation by the Roraima Civil Police this Tuesday (16).

In a press conference, the corporation informed that one of the points of the investigation - which has been going on for around a year and a half - is the storage of the criminal group's weapons.

According to the investigations, the faction operated in the same way as the PCC (Primeiro Comando da Capital). "In Operation Fim de Dança II, the PCC kept its central safe in the Conjubim region (RR), in a forested area. Then, in the same way, the Trem de Arágua faction operates."

The Civil Police explained that the drugs and weapons used by those investigated were kept in hiding places away from the city, such as "bunkers".

After the arrests, carried out this Tuesday (16), some of the shelters were deactivated by the organization's own members. The police are investigating other possible routes used for criminal action.

Venezuela Tren de Aragua faction is target of operation in Brazil | LIVE CNN

Operation
Operation Rota do Norte, led by Draco (Department for the Repression of Organized Criminal Organizations), seeks to dismantle the operational and financial arms of the faction.

The operation is carried out simultaneously in the states of Roraima, Amazonas, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Paraná. 25 preventive arrest warrants and more than 30 search and seizure warrants were issued by the Judiciary against members and associates of the criminal organization.

Investigations identified a complex criminal structure responsible for activities related to drug trafficking, money laundering and illegal trade in war weapons.

According to the police, Tren de Aragua maintained a strategic role in supplying large-caliber weapons to criminal organizations located in various regions of the country, mainly the CV (Comando Vermelho).

The investigation indicates that members of the faction's core were active in supplying weapons destined for other criminal organizations, including members of Comando Vermelho, with known operations in Amazonas and Rio de Janeiro.

Read More: Understand what the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua is

Among the weapons trafficked by the criminal scheme are rifles, .50 caliber machine guns and grenade launchers, equipment with high destructive power and frequently used in clashes involving criminal factions.

Operation Rota do Norte has the support of Renorcrim (National Network of Specialized Units for Combating Criminal Organizations) and the MJSP (Ministry of Justice and Public Security), reinforcing the integration of security forces in the fight against organized crime of an interstate and transnational nature.

The police seek to weaken the financial, logistical and operational capacity of Tren de Aragua, interrupting criminal flows related to drug trafficking, the illegal circulation of weapons and money laundering, in addition to preventing the strengthening and expansion of the faction in Roraima and other Brazilian states.

*Under AR supervision.

Source: CNN