By Daisy Galaviz.
From 3:00 a.m., officials from the Special Actions Forces of the National Police and the Anti-Extortion and Kidnapping closed all accesses to the Jose Felix Ribas section of Petare, the largest neighborhood in Venezuela, to find Wilexis Alexander Acevedo Monasterios.
At midday, the police forces killed eight men during the operation. At 3:00 p.m., the procedure continued, and the number of dead risen to 12, according to unofficial information received by El Pitazo and also confirmed by other media reports.
Two of the victims have been identified by members of the community of Jose Felix Ribas as Brian Cedeño, a local basketball star, and Carlos Palacios.
Earlier
According to residents, police and military entered homes of several neighbors and checked their phones. The deployment also includes light tanks and helicopters.
On Wednesday, May 6, Nicolas Maduro transmitted a video showing an alleged agent of the U.S. drug enforcement agency, identified as Jose Alberto Socorro Hernandez.
Socorro indicated that he contacted Richard Camarano, a friend of Wilexis so that he would unleash “a war without casualties” to divert the attention of Maduro regime law enforcement, and thus allow the operation of other armed groups to try to oust Maduro.
You must read The Wilexis, the man that rules in Petare
Then, Maduro linked Wilexis Monasterios with the issue of the armed incursion, saying him and his gang promoting disorders in the area since Monday, April 27.
But, according to residents, the fights are because the leadership of Wilexis has been fought by a man identified as “the Worm”. Maduro ordered Wilexis detention during a televised broadcast.
Wilexis challenged Maduro’s version in Whataspp audio the night of May 6: “There is no one here for the DEA, no one for Guaido, what we want here is peace for the community. The Wilexis is not sponsored by the DEA or Guaido and is not against Maduro. We want Maduro to know that no one here is against him,” he said in the voice note.
However, Maduro forgot that Wilexis Monasterios dominates four of the 10 areas from the Jose Felix Ribas, one of the largest neighborhoods in Petare, since 2017. There he has built a criminal organization that has 150 to 200 men, aged 13 to 30, who control everything that goes on between in the zone.
Wilexis now having three different police agencies hunting him down. The FAES’ incursion into the neighborhood began when the criminal leader recognized Guaido as acting President of Venezuela on January 23, 2019. Then, anti-Maduro protests began that day and Wilexis gave his approval.
Reverol announced the operation
Justice and Peace Minister, Nestor Reverol, reported via Twitter that by presidential orders, police and military operation was launched in Petare, located in Miranda state, to face organized crime. He accused criminal gangs trying to disrupt the internal order in the state.
