Caracas, July 12 (RHC)-- The Attorney General of Venezuela, Tarek William Saab, denounced this Friday the acts of sabotage against the country's electrical system, designed to irritate the people and destabilize the presidential elections, and gave details about the investigations in this matter.

In an appearance before the media, William Saab described them as actions of criminal nature, which have been escalating in the context of the electoral campaign and the presidential election, which is not a coincidence, he said.

He stressed that illegal groups steal materials from the electrical system, particularly in border areas, such as Zulia and Táchira, which are important for the country.

He recalled a sabotage perpetrated several days ago by a group that tried to destabilize Caracas, Táchira and Mérida -- events that ended in the arrest of Altorroso Vargas and Ricardo Alberto Albacete, and the practice of raids in properties in Táchira and Mérida that are linked to these subjects.

The Venezuelan attorney general explained that a large amount of strategic material belonging to the Corpoelec company was stolen, valued at approximately $150,000.  He explained that in the warehouses of a company called Gurimetal and owned by Albacete, located in Palmira (Táchira), 20 transformers, 500 kg of high voltage cables, about 50 electrical lightning rods and about 250 aluminum ingots (made with stolen material) were found. and then melted), among other media that had been stolen.

The attorney general stressed that these are materials that exclusively belong to the Venezuelan State and that Albacete stole them from a warehouse that operated clandestinely.

He specified that the facility's billing and tax controls predate 2020, which was corroborated by the workers who were at the site and who he testified to the prosecutors in charge of the investigation.  The evidence collected shows that they dismantled some of the stolen material.

In that warehouse, the material stolen from the national electrical system was collected and then used as raw material to produce products, without Albacete caring about the damage to the electrical system in Táchira.  

Furthermore, the Venezuelan attorney general denounced that the perpetrators received financing from abroad to carry out these crimes.  He said that telephone records reveal that they are linked to the Venezuelan extremist right and the Colombian extreme right led by former presidents Álvaro Uribe and Iván Duque.

He recalled that Albacete is accused of being a front man for a Chinese businessman detained by authorities of that country for corruption, as well as being accused of the accident of a plane in Colombia that cost the lives of its 71 passengers.

He assured that the extremist right is promoting sabotage during the electoral campaign to irritate the population and blame the authorities. He said that last April the Bolivarian National Guard arrested six people who stole guayas in units 5 and 6 of the Centro Plant, a theft that caused failures in the generation of energy and in the operation of transmission towers.

He assessed that these crimes are extremely serious, since health and water services are damaged, disturbing the affected population. He detailed that these provide sentences of between 20 and 25 years. Even a sentence of up to 30 years can be applied if they are done in complicity with foreign criminal groups, he said. The Venezuelan people deserve to live in peace, he stated.

As a second issue, he mentioned that this Thursday an extradition request was made for Yerson Isaac Guerrero Flores, brother and lieutenant of the subject alias "Niño Guerrero", former leader of the defunct criminal organization Tren de Aragua.  He highlighted that his extradition from Spain is a success, in the midst of a fierce campaign of lies to spread that this criminal group operates in numerous countries and, with that false argument, demonize Venezuela without evidence.

The attorney general of Venezuela added that Greyket Joseph Guerrero Flores, another brother of "Niño Guerrero", who is being prosecuted, was also arrested.  He recalled that, first, the Venezuelan authorities located the leaders of that gang and then arrested them. In a second stage, the Tocorón prison was taken over and the financial muscle of the criminal group was dismantled.

At the news conference and in response to a question from teleSUR, the Venezuelan attorney general said that within the investigation, they will work on the hypothesis of a possible connection between the actions perpetrated by Albacete and the complaint made days ago by the Colombian paramilitary group calling itself Autodefensas Conquistadores de la Sierra-ACSN.

He recalled that this group reported that three people of Venezuelan nationality tried to recruit them to attack the electrical system in Venezuela, in addition to destabilizing, creating chaos and attacking President Nicolás Maduro.

William Saab emphasized that nothing can be ruled out, since there is evidence of the intimate relationship between Albacete and the Colombian extreme right.