Why is nothing known about 'Niño Guerrero', the most wanted criminal in Venezuela?

Four months after the eviction of the Tocorón prison and six other penitentiary centers, the Venezuelan State has not responded to the whereabouts of Héctor Guerrero, alias 'El Niño Guerrero', leader of the dangerous transnational crime gang 'The Aragua Train', whose actions extended to Colombia, Chile and Peru.

(Also read: Photos: this is what the Tocorón prison looks like without the control of 'El Niño Guerrero')

Guerrero has a red Interpol notice in 194 countries, and there has been speculation that he fled to Colombia and then possibly settled in the United States. But there is no trace. “That must be answered by the Minister of the Interior, Remigio Ceballos,” says Humberto Prado, from the Venezuelan Prisons Observatory (OVV), when asked by this newspaper about the whereabouts of the criminal leader.

But the problem is that it's not just Guerrero. There are at least eight gang leaders operating from prisons whose whereabouts are unknown after the intervention of the State. In Venezuela, these leaders are known as 'pranes', a term that was coined in Puerto in the late 90s and means Prisoner Completed Born Killer.

(You may be interested: Where did 'Niño Guerrero', leader of the Aragua Train, flee to after the Tocorón prison was taken?)

For the OVV, all these seizures and evictions from the prisons were agreed with the pranes, who would have abandoned the facilities days and even weeks before the police deployments that took place. In Tocorón alone, 11,000 troops participated, according to State figures. But there were no deaths or injuries, and it was alleged that the escapees fled through tunnels that flow into Lake Valencia..

The mystery is, furthermore, that, if Tocorón was the operations center of the Aragua Train, how come no heavy weapons or large quantities were found? There are several questions that have been left in the air without any answers.

Was the takeover agreed?

According to the OVV, these last 19 years have been marked by opacity and mistakes. From ministers like Jesse Chacón, through Tareck El Aissamo (today accused of corruption and whose whereabouts are unknown) and Until Iris Varela, violence in prisons and the expansion of crime outside their walls was a constant.

In its latest report, presented at the end of December, the OVV compiles that from 2011 to 2018, 2,140 prisoners died violently in prisons. As of today, according to the organization, there is 163.19 percent overcrowding and there are only 22 operational prisons.

Furthermore, only 11 percent of the facilities are under state control, 43 percent under a mixed modality, that is, control of the State and the pranes, and 46 percent under control of the pranes.

Another indication for the OVV to consider that the shots were agreed upon is that Interventions in prisons have never been so short, as happened last year. But relatives also told the organization that days before the prisoners received information that there would be a procedure of this type and the pranes left the premises.

Who are the pranes?

The best known is Héctor Guerrero, known as 'El Niño Guerrero'. Although he probably had not been in Tocorón since February, he was the leader of that prison, which had 3,000 prisoners but on September 20 it only had 1,600.

'Warrior Boy' had an emporium. He charged about $20 a month to each prisoner, a fee known as “the cause,” which translates to about $50,000 a month.. The place had a swimming pool, nightclub, zoo, restaurants, baseball field and other attractions. And he is known as one of the leaders of El Tren de Aragua.

(You may be interested in: Video: 11,000 agents are deployed to 'dismantle' the Aragua Train in Venezuela)

On October 25, the Tocuyito prison, in Carabobo, was intervened. 2,114 prisoners were evacuated. In it was Néstor Richardi, alias 'Richardi', who had served his sentence in 2017 but decided to live in prison. 'Richardi' had a recording studio where well-known singers like Anuel came, according to local media.

The charge was 20 dollars, but there were people living in the prison who were not prisoners and they also paid. It is estimated that his income was $50,000 a month. Hours before the intervention in the prison began, he uploaded a photo to his social networks saying that it was “see you later.”

(Also read: From Venezuela to Bogotá: this is how the members of the Aragua Train gave orders)

On October 30, the Anzoátegui Judicial Confinement Center was evicted. Of the 1,511 prisoners, only 861 were transferred. The cause was 20 dollars and their leader was Luis Yegue, alias 'Pata e queso'who earned more than $30,000 a month.

On November 3, the Monagas Judicial Confinement Center, known as 'La Pica', was taken over. With a population of 1,496 inmates, only 1,458 were transferred. The pran was Pedro Gonzáles, who earned 20 dollars a month. Like Richardi, he had already served his sentence, but decided to live in prison.

But in this area too There was José Clavijo, alias 'Jefferson', leader of the band 'The Crazy Car of Christ'. He also charged $20 per case. On November 6, the Ciudad Bolívar Judicial Confinement Center, known as Vista Hermosa, was intervened.

In it, control was divided into three pranes and the case had a price of 80 dollars. The leaders were Wilkins Romero, alias 'The Wilkins'; Geovanny Navas, alias 'Pan' and Edicson Gonzales, alias 'Chichi'.

The Trujillo Judicial Confinement Center was evacuated on November 8. With 503 prisoners, the case was for 20 dollars and was led by Álvaro Montilla, alias 'El Loro'.

Two days later, the authorities arrived at the Yaracuy Judicial Confinement Center, whose leader was Freddy Barboza, alias 'Charro', who earned $40 a month and was an ally of the 'Wilmer bachiller' and 'El Tren de Aragua' gangs.

El Charro also sold drinking water for $5 a bottle. But also, if a prisoner wanted to use the cell phone, he charged him 20 dollars a month and if it was to commit crimes, 100 dollars a month.

There is no information about any of these prans. If they are absconding, if they were transferred or if they left the country. Nor is anything known about his collaborators. The Government assured that the interventions were successful, but there are still many details that are not known.

ANA MARÍA RODRÍGUEZ BRAZÓN
TIME CORRESPONDENT
CARACAS