Venezuelan gangster known as ‘The Rabbit’ killed by authorities
A Venezuelan man accused of running a major drug ring was killed by authorities, state officials said Friday.
Carlos Enrique Gómez Rodríguez, known as “el Conejo,” or “the Rabbit,” was killed Thursday in the town of Irapa in the northeastern part of the country, according to Remigio Ceballos, the minister of the interior, justice and peace.
Police placed a $1 million bounty on Gómez Rodríguez in February after he was involved in a gunfight with authorities, according to Agence France-Presse.
Mr. Ceballos said the accused gangster had been tracked for some time, but didn’t share how Gómez Rodríguez was killed. He suggested his death came as a result of a months-long security operation in Aragua.
The government also accused Gómez Rodríguez of terrorism, homicide and kidnapping, and being affiliated with a mayor who was arrested in an anti-corruption probe.
In addition to Gómez Rodríguez’s death, the minister said 36 criminals were arrested and authorities seized a number of weapons, portable radios, motorbikes, telephones and “war materials.”
The Venezuelan Violence Observatory said the country witnessed nearly 11,000 violent deaths between 2021 and 2022.
