CARACAS: Since August 12, 2014, when Venezuelan authorities launched a national anti-smuggling operation, 6,000 people have been arrested for that crime.
From the arrested people in a year, 2,132 remain deprived of freedom and 3,500 face precautionary measures, the top official added, through the radio station Union Radio.
Ortega recalled that the plan is a measure taken by the Venezuelan Government to curb that criminal attitude, especially frequent in the region bordering Colombia.
She added that the Public Prosecutor’s Office actively participates in the confrontation of that crime.
The initiative includes measures aimed at eradicating the various forms practiced by smugglers mafias discovered in a joint offensive of Caracas and Bogota, said in 2014 the Venezuelan Executive Vice-President, Jorge Arreaza, after the plan was launched.
According to Arreaza, during the last year more than 28,000 tons of food and 12 million litres of fuel were seized from different bands that sought to take them illegally from Venezuela.
