Several police officers arrested in Venezuela for committing looting during rescue efforts after the earthquakes

The Venezuelan authorities have reported that four agents of the Scientific, Criminal and Criminal Investigation Corps (CICPC) have been arrested for committing looting during rescue efforts after the powerful earthquakes of June 24, which have resulted in more than 1,900 deaths to date.

In a statement, the CICPC has condemned the acts “firmly” and has indicated that these four people “have deviated from their duties during the rescue and humanitarian assistance efforts by acting in an indecorous manner by appropriating economic values ​​found among the rubble.”

Subsequently, those allegedly involved “were definitively and irrevocably removed from their positions, in addition to initiating a corresponding administrative disciplinary process for their immediate dismissal.” The agents have been identified as Aguilar Reyes, Fredy Lugo, Roger Andrés Omaña and Josue Burgos.

The Minister of the Interior, Diosdado Cabello, has indicated in a press conference that the four agents have been “immediately dismissed” for committing these “immoral acts.” “There has been a complaint from some CICPC officials who were committing impudent and indecent acts in the area of ​​the tragedy. They have been identified, expelled from the institution, from this worthy institution of workers, for dishonoring their uniform,” he stated.

“They have been made available to the courts accordingly. We will be totally intolerant of those who commit acts against morality through the use of their uniforms. There are people who want to take advantage of the pain of others. They stain the uniforms of the police force with their actions,” he noted.

Thus, he has insisted that the Government will have “zero tolerance for those who stain and disgrace the uniform of our police force.”