Retired Venezuelan lieutenant colonel denounces torture and unlawful detention at GOES facilities
Relatives of José Tomás Gómez Machuca report that he was detained without a court order, tortured and kept incommunicado. The IACHR granted precautionary measures in his favour.
Detention without court order and torture allegations against GNB reserve officer
Relatives and advocates of José Tomás Gómez Machuca, a retired lieutenant colonel of the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB), report to infobae.com that he was apprehended without a court order, subjected to torture and kept incommunicado from 5 October 2025 in Venezuela.
According to the account provided to infobae.com, that morning Gómez Machuca left his apartment in La Tahona, Baruta municipality, after two Polibaruta officers informed the building superintendent that they were carrying an official summons. While speaking with the agents, four vans arrived with men dressed in black and with no identification, who took him away in front of his young children without showing any arrest warrant.
Two hours later, four men and one woman returned to the building with Gómez handcuffed. Without a court order, without witnesses or presence of the Public Ministry, they conducted a search in which they asked about a rifle, other weapons, a safe and an old telephone, without finding those items. At the end of the procedure, they took two telephones, his personal pistol, his firearms permit, his identity card, his wallet with documents and an empty bag. Gómez reportedly shouted during the operation that it was the Strategic Operations Group (GOES) that was taking him away.
Admission to Military Hospital in critical condition
The relatives first went to the GOES headquarters in Las Mercedes, Caracas, where they denied that Gómez was detained. They then indicated that he had been transferred to the National Anti-Drug Command (CNA) in Las Acacias, where they initially also denied his presence before admitting he was there, without allowing visits or communications.
Days later, the family learned that Gómez had been admitted to the Military Hospital in Caracas in critical condition. According to the report, he presented multiple bruises, multiple traumas and a pleural effusion attributed to blows received during detention, for which he underwent a thoracostomy to stabilise him. A relative who managed to see him in the hospital reported that he could not walk or sit normally and that he was breathing with difficulty. Since then, according to his relatives, he has suffered from obstructive sleep apnoea, stomach problems and anxiety, and received psychiatric care.
The family maintains that Gómez was tortured at GOES facilities and forced to record two videos. It further claims that after self-harming his neck he was transferred to the Military Hospital and pressured to sign a statement implicating companies, money exchange houses and other detained persons.
IACHR grants precautionary measures
On 4 October 2026, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), through Resolution 81/2026, granted precautionary measures to four persons, including Tomás José Gómez Machuca. The IACHR requested that the Venezuelan regime adopt the necessary measures to protect the rights to life, personal integrity and health of the beneficiaries. "Implement sufficient measures to ensure that the detention conditions of the beneficiary persons are compatible with applicable international standards," the body stated.
Virtual hearing and refusal to sign statement
Nearly a month after his detention, whilst hospitalised, Gómez appeared at a virtual hearing. According to the report, he was handed a written statement to read. Although he read it, he refused to sign it and claimed to have acted under coercion, threats and torture. The family also reports that he was not permitted to appoint a private lawyer and that public defender Samuel Serrano was imposed upon him.
The proceeding was heard by judge Edwin Jesús Vásquez Goyo, of the Fourth Special Court of First Instance in Control Functions with national competence in crimes associated with terrorism, corruption and organised crime. The prosecutorial case file corresponds to number MP-160643-2025 and the judicial case is identified as 04OCT-S-102-2025. Lucas Yvan Albornett Salazar, from Carúpano, Sucre state, is also listed as an accused in the case.
Formal indictment for drug trafficking and organised crime
Assistant prosecutors Edgar Maurera Villareal and Jiomary Sinaí Terán Guzmán accused Gómez as an alleged co-perpetrator of illicit trafficking in narcotic and psychotropic substances and association. The investigation refers to facts which, according to the case file, allegedly occurred years ago.
The official thesis links Gómez to an alleged structure named by investigators a Structured Organised Crime Group (GEDO), related to the so-called Paraguaná Cartel. The officials identify Alexander Albornett as the head of the group and name Lucas Yvan Albornett Salazar and Gómez Machuca as alleged co-perpetrators.
The Public Ministry contends that Gómez allegedly performed management and administrative functions within the organisation, as an alleged liaison and financier. The indictment mentions foreign exchange operations for 700,000 dollars and communications with Albornett via WhatsApp.
The police version is based on witness and informant statements, findings at premises linked to other investigated persons and communications attributed to the accused. It does not appear, according to available information, whether those elements were subjected to independent expert examination, nor is the formal defence response to each allegation included.
According to police reports, the case dates back to 1 September 2025, when GOES officers said they had gone to fishing ports in Higuerote and Carenero, in Brión municipality in Miranda state, to verify vessel movements. According to the officers, a man identified as "Witness 1" allegedly told them that in mid-July he observed the arrival of a vessel with large bundles that were subsequently transshipped to smaller vessels. Gómez had been in active reserve status since 2019.
Source: Google News VE — Crime