Five police officers were detained in Carabobo during a procedure where they seized war material, military sources said. Apparently the uniformed were carrying out an unauthorized search.
The operation took place in a house in the La Trigaleña urbanization, Valencia, Carabobo. The property was raided by a mixed commission made up of agents from the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (Dgcim) and the National Anti-Extortion and Kidnapping Command (Conas), the source specified.
In the building, officials seized five 9 mm pistols of different models and seven chargers. They also seized 70 9 mm caliber cartridges, three radio transmitters, a tear gas grenade, and two vehicles: Jeep Grand Cherokee pickup truck license plate AA558L0 and Renault Logan license plate GDF07W.
In the house they also located clothing used by security agencies: 5 black vest linings, three caps, three camouflaged uniforms alluding to the Dgcim and two plastic pistol holsters.
As for the detainees, they were identified as: Sahir Jordan Ochoa Rivas (deputy commissioner), Rodolfo Vicente León (special agent) and José Rafael Anuel Ramírez (deputy commissioner), presumably attached to the Catia Military Counterintelligence Base Special Unit.
Bolivarian National Police officers Edixon Rafael Gutiérrez Bustamante and Luis Daniel Pérez, attached to the Theft and Vehicle Theft Division, were also detained. The detainees did not present the authorization to be inside the raided property owned by Vicente Rhamagai Masullu.
The authorities presume that the aforementioned uniformed men are involved in the crime of extortion and kidnapping.
The investigation, both of the house where the seized material was located, and of the officials who were raiding it, is directed by the 3rd Prosecutor’s Office of the Public Ministry of Carabobo, according to file MP-27455-2022.
The five detainees will be prosecuted for kidnapping and criminal association.
