In a significant and daring move, Venezuela has deployed 11,000 troops to regain control of one of its largest prisons, which had fallen under the dominance of a formidable criminal gang. The Tocorón prison, located in the northern region of the country, had been under the sway of the notorious Tren de Aragua mega-gang for an extended period.

Reports had indicated that gang members enjoyed unprecedented freedom within the prison's confines, where amenities akin to a luxury resort were discovered, including a pool, nightclub, and even a miniature zoo, as noted by local media.

Venezuelan authorities have now announced plans to relocate the approximately 6,000 inmates held at Tocorón to other correctional facilities. This move, however, has left many residents who were living alongside sentenced inmates in a state of uncertainty about their future. Outside the prison, anxious relatives awaited news of where their loved ones would be transferred.

Gladys Hernández, one such concerned family member, tearfully expressed her apprehension, saying, "I am waiting to hear where they are taking my husband... I was living in there, but they kicked us out," in an interview with AFP news agency.

Journalists on the scene reportedly observed security personnel removing motorcycles, televisions, and microwaves from the facility as part of the operation to regain control.
In a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, the Venezuelan Interior Ministry lauded the efforts of its officers in reclaiming the prison and described the operation as the dismantling of "a center of conspiracy and crime."

The Tren de Aragua gang's leader, Héctor Guerrero Flores, had been serving a 17-year sentence for charges including murder and drug trafficking.

His remarkable influence was such that he purportedly had the liberty to come and go from the prison at will, eventually transitioning into a full-time inmate, as reported by Carlos Nieto, a coordinator with the prison rights group A Window to Freedom.