The rewards offered by the Government for those who provide clues that lead to the location of criminals are part of the investigation process related to criminal organizations that operate in Venezuela but are connected to Colombia.
This is what is called “transnational organized crime”, explain police chiefs who detailed that in the Organic Code of Criminal Procedure there is a denunciation as a figure to obtain information on alleged participants in a criminal act. This type of denunciation normally comes from people already detained to whom the Code offers a reward: a reduction in sentence.
But for the informers who are not in prison, that is, the common citizen, the reward would be another, in cash, they explain from a security organization.
The most recent rewards offered by the Government to locate criminals occurred on the occasion of the Gran Cacique Guaicaipuro I operation carried out at Cota 905 during the first week of July 2021 and whose purpose was to dismantle the criminal structure that operated in the southwest of Caracas.
In this case, rewards of up to 500,000 dollars were offered for those who provided information that would allow the location of the leaders of the criminal organization based at Cota 905; that is, Carlos Revette (El Koki), Carlos Calderón (El Vampi) and Garbys Ochoa (El Garbys), among others. For each of them the reward was 500,000 dollars, according to the announcement released from the twitter account of the Information Minister, Freddy Ñañez.
And last February, the Cicpc reported that they were offering a reward of 1 million dollars for information related to Carlos Enrique Gómez Rodríguez (El Conejo), identified as the author of the simultaneous attack perpetrated on February 5 against police headquarters located in Las Tejerías ( Aragua).
crime of omission
Lawyer José Castillo states that citizen participation in the fight against organized crime implies a willingness to offer information on the steps taken by these groups with a view to their arrest.
“There is a crime by omission, which occurs when you are seeing that they are going to kill a person and you do not inform,” Castillo exemplified. “Article 55 of the Constitution stipulates the collaboration of citizens with citizen security,” she said.
Castillo argues that structured organized crime organizations threaten the security of the nation, while they control portions of the territory to carry out their illegal actions.
Until now, it is unknown of people who have collected rewards offered for providing clues about leaders and members of criminal groups.
the ringleaders
· On February 13, the Cicpc published a poster offering 1 million dollars for information on the location of alias El Conejo and six of his organization; namely: Richard Efraín Fuentes, Luis Rafael Santana Argueta (Luis Manilla), Frenyi Daniel Chirinos, Fernando José Torres Suárez (Carranga), Jhonlervis Miguel Álvarez Torrealba and Franklin José Colmenares Salazar (Pantera).
· The seven subjects are requested for: terrorism, extortion, kidnapping and homicide, among other crimes.
· In July 2021, the Minister of Information Freddy Ñañez published the faces of the main members of the so-called Banda del Koki so that citizens collaborate in the location.
· These are the wanted partners of Koki: Romer Ordaz Clemente (El Romer), for whom they offered $50,000 in exchange for information. While the payment of 20 thousand dollars was offered for data related to: Alexander Eloy Rondón López (El Goku), José Luis Paredes Medina (Chino), Franyerson Alexander Rivero (El Franyerson), Juan Carlos Pérez Vargas (El Juampiro) and Oswaldo Rene Velasquez (El Rocky).
