Las Claritas Sandicato is one of the strongest and most sustainable criminal groups dedicated to illegal extraction in the southern state of Venezuela de Bolívar. It's the only one ShhindatoA term used for the illegal mining gang, which has not been targeted by the security forces. On the contrary, it has long maintained alliances with the actors of the State.
The gang controls some of the most important mining areas in Bolívar, where it organizes and invoices “taxes” to minors and local business owners. It also requires strict control over neighboring cities, where it applies its own laws and punishes those who do not comply.
History
Las Claritas Sandicato – which is also known locally under the name of Sicandato de Juancho, after one of its leaders Juan Gabrial Rivas Núñez, alias “Juancho” – has operated in Bolívar for more than a decade, according to the Testimony of denunciation of chief commissioner José Gregorio Lezama, who led an anti-Kidnapping unit in the state.
His testimony, which was registered and disclosed to the press in 2016, alleged that the former governor of Bolívar, Francisco Rangel Gómez and the director of the local police, Julio César Fuentes Manzulli, provided weapons and protection to Las Claritas Sicandato and other gangs since 2010. Lezama even said that they have given Juancho Las Claritas. “”
Another 2016 intelligence report, written by former Lieutenant Jesús Curvelo, supported Lezama's claims, connecting Rangel Gómez and Fuentes Manzulli once again with the operations of the Juancho gang and gold smuggling.
THE Shhindato won another notorious criminal leader – Yohan José Romero, alias “Johan Petrica” – between 2015 and 2017, according to local sources that spoke with an insistence crime under the cover of anonymity, citing security problems. Petrica was one of the founders of the largest prison gang in Venezuela, the Tren of AraguaAnd would have arrived in Bolívar after escaping the operations of the security forces targeting him in Aragua in 2015.
The administration of Rangel Gómez ended in 2017, which led to another change in the Shhindato relationship with local authorities. Justo Noguera Pietri, the new governor of the State, represented the renewed interest of the State to consolidate the control of the mining areas, in particular after President Nicolás Maduro implemented the ORINOCO mining arc (ARCO MINERO DEL ORINOCO – AMO) the previous year.
The national government announced the “Metal HandsThe operation (Operación Manos de Metal) in mid-2018, which aimed to dismantle the gold extraction gangs in Bolívar, and appointed more than 30 criminal leaders as targets. Many of those named were allied with former governor Rangel Gómez, but neither Juancho nor Petrica were included on the list.
Since then, the Sichetato has maintained its control over the area and even sought to pretender More land with gold deposits, sometimes confrontation With the indigenous communities that live there.
Criminal savings
LAS CLARITAS SICHANDATO has no official concession to exploit gold in its control zone. Like many other mining gangs in Bolívar, he benefits from the coordination and invoicing of taxes to mining activities in his field of control, including extraction as well as treatment and smuggling.
The group was also linked to extortion in its field of control, loading vacuunas (vaccines, term for extortion costs) to minors and business owners, in particular those involved in the purchase and sale of gold.
Direction
Since its creation, Sandicato has been led by Rivas Núñez, who is Colombian but has received Venezuelan nationality thanks to its links with the government of Maduro, according to Curvelo's testimony.
However, there are different allegations concerning which currently leads Sichandato. Local sources have insisted on understanding the crime that Johan Petrica assumed management after his arrival in Las Claritas, although Juancho remained the more public of the gang.
Petrica is from Aragua's state and was imprisoned in Tocorón prison, with a criminal background including extortion, illegal possession of firearms, theft, kidnapping and homicide. Alongside Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, alias “Niño Guerrero”, Petrica helped to found the Tren of Aragua Prison gang that still controls Tocorón.
It seems that the low profile of Petrica is intentional, according to local sources which declared to Insight Crime that he had even prohibited the use of his name in the region. In Las Claritas and Kilómetro 88, it is more commonly known as “El Viejo”, an alias also used by other local criminals and even certain members of Las Claritas Sicandato.
In fact, the highest ranking lieutenant of the gang, Humberto Marteswas the first to use the alias “El Viejo” in Las Claritas before Petrica's arrival. Some people always refer to him with this alias, and local rumors suggest that Martes has been working in the region for more than 20 years, even longer than Rivas Núñez.
Geography
LAS CLARITAS STANDICATO operates in the municipality of Sifontes of the State of Bolívar, a strategic region for gold extraction which also constitutes a part of the ORINOCO mining arch. Sandicato orders Various sectors along the main state highway, Troncal 10, but its bastion is based in areas known as Kilómetro 88 and Las Claritas, as well as their surrounding gold mines.
Not only are these territories rich in gold, but they are also strategically placed to pass mined gold illegally from Venezuela. It only takes three hours to go to Brazil de Las Claritas, after Troncal 10, and the region is also close to the border with Guyana.
Allies and enemies
Sandicato has established alliances with elements of state since its start. The testimonies of security forces denunciators linked the group to the former governor of Bolívar Francisco Rangel Gómez and to the State Security Forces.
Lezama's testimony reported that in 2012, five members of the group, including Juancho himself, were arrested in possession of weapons and falsified skills in the Bolívar state police. However, said Lezama, they were released the next day and all their articles – even police skills titles – were sent to them.
Meanwhile, Curvelo claimed In his testimony that Fuentes Manzulli ordered him to bring boxes carrying a large sum of money to Ciudad Bolívar to the mining city of Tumememo, which would be given to Juancho to buy gold. Curvelo also pointed out that a nameless general had used his position in the Ministry of the Interior and Justice to erase the Juancho police files, in which he was sought for a homicide in the state of Aragua.
Gang relations are not limited to politicians. Several sources consulted during the field work reported that the Las Claritas Sandicato has a non-aggression pact with other mining gangs in Sifontes. The named gangs include the sindendicato led by Fabio Enrique Gonzáles Isaza, alias “Negro Fabio”, in El Dorado, as well as the R (Organización R – or) organization in Tumememo, led by Eduardo José Natera Balboa, alias “Run”.
Prospects
Las Claritas Sandendato not only survived but prospered under three different governors, epidemics of violence between rival gangs through the state, and security forces campaigns targeting illegal exploitation. Even as military interventions in Bolívar revival At the end of 2022, the position of the gang has so far remained unthanded, continuing its long history of relative stability.
The gang would be strongly armed and its members well trained, but it was not tested by the operations of the security forces. If the government was to aim for the Las Claritas Sicandato, it would not only take sufficient firepower to force the gang and control its bastion, but also strong state institutions to resist the well -hampered corruption of Bolívar and the social control of the gang.
