Inside prison run by gang with swimming pool, mini-zoo and even its own nightclub

Security forces seized an arsenal of weapons – automatic rifles, pistols and boxes of ammunition

Ammunition confiscated inside the Tocoron prison after authorities seized control of the premises. Photo: Yuri Cortez

Alexander Butler
© UK Independent

By day, Venezuelans could play baseball, visit zoos with horses, pigs and flamingos, and saunter round market streets selling food and wares as their children played in parks.

By night, they could drink beer, place bets and go nightclubbing. But this was not a holiday resort or town. It was one of Venezuela’s most notorious prisons controlled by the powerful Tren de Aragua gang.