Crime & Justice

At least 1 officer killed during huge operation at Paraguay’s main prison

Asuncion, Dec 18 (EFE).- At least one police officer has been killed and 14 other people have been injured during a massive operation at Tacumbú penitentiary, Paraguay’s largest prison, officials said Monday.

Tacumbú, located in one of the capital Asuncion’s poorest districts, was the scene of a violent riot in October during which alleged Rotela Clan members set the prison ablaze and held 22 police officers hostage for over 15 hours.

Monday’s operation, which began before dawn and involved over 1,200 police officers as well as more than 1,000 military personnel, was ordered to regain control of the prison and transfer its inmates to at least eight other penitentiaries in Paraguay.

The director of the Rigoberto Caballero hospital, David Torales, told reporters that a police officer had arrived at the hospital without vital signs with a head wound.

The rest of the wounded, he added, had “very diverse” injuries, such as traumatisms, contusions and bullet wounds.

The head of the National Police’s anti-kidnapping department, Commissioner Nimio Cardozo, told EFE that at least 14 people – two soldiers and 12 police – have been injured.

Armando Javier Rotela, the alleged leader of the Rotela clan, an organization linked to drug trafficking in Paraguay, was reportedly captured during the operation.

The Rotela Clan has a strong presence in Tacumbú, according to experts, after displacing Brazilian criminal gang First Capital Command (PCC).

Commissioner Cardozo told ABC Cardinal radio that the scale of the operation was unprecedented in Paraguay, indicating that it had been planned for “quite some time”.

Citing “preliminary information”, the police chief said that Rotela had apparently tried to “use a pregnant woman as a shield”.

Cardozo confirmed that neither Rotela nor the woman were injured. EFE

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