Officers of the state police in Guárico arrested three national guards and a shopkeeper in two operations in the towns from Infante municipality in the state of Guarico. Those arrested were charged with smuggling gasoline extraction.
In Guarico, a National Guard was arrested Thursday, August 13, at a checkpoint in the San Lorenzo sector, when a cursory inspection of his Explorer truck, revealed three drums with 70 liters of gasoline each. Subsidized gasoline sells at Bs 5,000 per liter, but it is almost impossible to get it, while international gasoline gets sold under military surveillance at $0.50 each liter. In the black market, the price is even higher, with the fuel sometimes commanding a $4 per liter. The sergeant argued that he needed the gasoline for traveling, but he was taken to the police command.
Also, on August 13 in Guarico, state police raided a house where another two National Guard sergeants and a civilian got arrested after discovering four containers with 20 liters of gasoline each, near two vehicles in which the gang allegedly stored and sold the fuel.
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Meanwhile, in Bolivar, two gangs dealt in medicine and gasoline. Two men were detained in the military barracks of La Romana, municipality of Piar, state of Bolivar after officials at a checkpoint discovered a batch of 3,339 pills hidden in a heavy-duty vehicle.
The medicines, according to the military agency report, did not have invoices or the corresponding permit. Furthermore, the men did not explain how they obtained the pills.
“These citizens were traveling in a Ford cargo vehicle, where they hid under the seats the merchandise they were illegally transporting,” said in a quote included in the official report. Authorities seized the drugs and the vehicle.
In another case, the military institution reported the capture of a 45-year-old man, accused of selling spots in the waiting line of a gas station located in the Alta Vista sector, in the municipality of Caroni.
Those who denounced the man were the citizens who were in the line at that service station. Military officials seized the phone, which contained text messages with people who were offered the place for $15.
