CICPC officers arrested for looting rubble following earthquakes in La Guaira
Residents filmed four Venezuelan police officers as they removed money from the remains of buildings collapsed by earthquakes in the state of La Guaira.
CICPC officers arrested for looting rubble following earthquakes in La Guaira
On Tuesday, Venezuelan authorities confirmed the detention of four officials from the Scientific, Penal and Forensic Investigation Corps (CICPC), accused of taking money found within the remains of buildings that collapsed during seismic movements the previous week in the state of La Guaira.
The coastal zone was the hardest hit by the tremors, which reached magnitudes of 7.5 and 7.1 degrees. Several buildings were reduced to ruins, causing the death of at least three people and leaving dozens more injured.
The officers were discovered by local residents, who captured images on their mobile phones. In the recordings, one of the uniformed officers can be seen holding a bundle of banknotes. The community intervened, recovered the funds and tore them to pieces amid outrage.
The Minister of Interior, Justice and Peace, Diosdado Cabello, reported that the four individuals involved were immediately discharged from the police institution. "This type of behaviour cannot be tolerated," he stated. The director of the CICPC, Douglas Rico, also validated the information through his digital channels.
The episode has sparked criticism among the population, who claim that certain members of the security forces have hindered the operations of foreign rescue brigades and have given greater importance to the removal of vehicles than to locating possible victims alive beneath the rubble.
Source: El País
Source: Google News VE — Crime