Thirteen members of the Tren del Llano criminal organization were killed during the execution of operation Thunder III in the Guariqueño municipalities of Leonardo Infante (Valle de la Pascua), José Félix Rivas (Tucupido) and Pedro Zaraza (Zaraza).
“We must carry out forceful procedures; not hit the people,” said the director of the Bolivarian National Police (PNB), Elio Estrada, when activating the Operation last Thursday with the participation of 1,031 officials who mobilized in 90 vehicle units and 60 motorcycles.
In Tucupido there were four of those killed: Fernández Laya Yohangel Vicente (25), alias Gasparin and others known by the nicknames El Iguano, El Gordo and El Pantoja.
In Valle de la Pascua, police officers killed alias El Guabina and rescued Orlando from Jesús Gómez González, who was being held by members of the Edgar Mariano group, a cell of the Tren del Llano.
132 detainees
The preliminary balance of Operation Thunder III also indicates that 132 criminals were captured: 50 arrested for different crimes (six of them for illicit possession of a firearm), four members of the Tren del Llano organization, 65 arrested for presenting arrest warrants and 13 with judicial requests. During the deployment, PNB agents seized 17 firearms, a facsimile of a firearm and 92 cartridges of different calibers.
Among the weapons seized is an HK submachine gun that was in the possession of Cristian Diomedes Hernández (19) and Félix Yonier Higuera Jaramillo (20). This procedure took place in the El Triunfo sector, Valle de la Pascua.
While in Tucupido they arrested a logistics operator from the Tren del Llano, registered as William Requena, from whom they seized 13 rifle cartridges, military clothing, three cell phones and food.
Parallel to Operation Thunder III, the National Anti-extortion and Kidnapping Command (Conas) executed Operation Chiparara, one of whose phases took place in the Orocollal sector, where the Guanapito reservoir is located, Altagracia de Orituco), Guárico.
There they captured four members of the Tren del Llano: Tahiedee Uvencio Rondón, Ángel Aviliana Aular Hernández, Rorimar Caterine Navas Riqueza and Andrea de los Ángeles González Flores. The latter is a sentimental partner of Keny Meza, a member of the Tren del Llano staff.
Operation Thunder also carries out a scrutiny in urban and rural sectors of the Pedro Zaraza municipality, where the Tren del Llano installed a cell since last March.
Originally that cell was directed by Carlos Pirela, whose body was found shot on May 24 on a rural road between Tucupido and San Rafael de Laya, Guárico. After that event, the cell passed into the hands of Henry Milano, alias El Demonio. The members of the organization have dedicated themselves to collecting vaccine from agricultural producers in the region.
