CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuelan authorities touted this week that a powerful criminal organization that had ruled squatter settlements on the hills of southwestern Caracas had taken a hit.
A gang shooting in July at the infamous Helicoide jail prompted a heavy-handed response. A swift military-police operation put an end to a 2017 “peace zone” deal with the urban gangs.
Fermín Mármol García, a prominent Venezuelan criminologist, said the deal allowed “mega” gang leaders to run micro-states in the capital city with impunity for years. Authorities had enough.
“After an armed confrontation with police forces, Alias el KoKi, Carlos Luis Revette, was killed. We continue searching for his accomplices,” Venezuela’s Interior Minister Remigio Ceballos wrote in Spanish on Twitter Tuesday.
There were dozens of fugitives after the raids. Wanted posters offer $20,000 for street gang members and $500,000 for alleged “mega” gang leaders. There had been a reward of half a million dollars for Revette’s capture.
Authorities reported he died in the Venezuelan state of Aragua, in a rural area southwest of Caracas. Revette, who was also known as “Coqui” or “Coki,” had just celebrated his 44th birthday while on the run after raids in the La Vega and Cota 905 communities.
Revette developed a reputation as a benefactor after proving himself violent while growing up with the “Los Chinches” street crew and as a trusted mentee of Jesús “El Chavo” Ramos, who engineered a gangs consolidation, according to Insight Crime.
After Ramos was killed in 2015, Revette took over and negotiated the expansion of the criminal organization that had alleged connections to corrupt police officers and an organized hierarchical structure, according to Insight Crime.
The “mega” gang profited from kidnappings, extortion, burglaries, carjackings, and drug trafficking. Mármol García said Revette will go down in Venezuelan history as a notorious criminal.
Related social media
#ElKoki La planilla de necrodactilia donde se registra la identificación del cadáver de Carlos Revette, cabecilla de una organización delincuencial que operaba en la Cota 905, aliada de Carlos Rodríguez (El Conejo), sujeto que huye por las montaña de Las Tejerías, Aragua pic.twitter.com/aXRT9nbWoR
— Eligio Rojas (@ELESPINITO) February 10, 2022
Se mantiene activa la Operación Indio Guaicaipuro II 2022, en Edo Aragua, con nuevas detenciones y tras enfrentamiento armado contra las fuerzas policiales, resultó abatido Alias el KoKi, Carlos Luis Revette CIV 14.388.022, seguimos tras la búsqueda de sus cómplices. pic.twitter.com/URBst5KedM
— @FuerzaDinamica Remigio Ceballos Ichaso (@CeballosIchaso1) February 8, 2022
Se realizó con éxito Operación Policial Guaicaipuro II, contra bandas delictivas, que nos permitió hacer capturas y liberar espacios en Tejerías, Edo. Aragua, donde continuan la PNB y la GNB en la fase de investigación y abordaje social, por la tranquilidad de la población pic.twitter.com/NxuWaOmIw1
— @FuerzaDinamica Remigio Ceballos Ichaso (@CeballosIchaso1) February 7, 2022
Continúa la Operación Cacique Indio Guaicaipuro II en Tejerías, Edo. Aragua, para capturar al Alias conejo y toda esa Banda, se logró la la aprehensión de siete (07) integrantes (06 Masculinos, 01 Femenina) y seguimos en persecución de esa peligrosa organización delictiva. pic.twitter.com/tx1EQ9YxbX
— @FuerzaDinamica Remigio Ceballos Ichaso (@CeballosIchaso1) February 10, 2022
Weddle worked on this report from Bogotá, Colombia. Torres contributed to this report from Miami.