Tocorón Prison in Aragua, Venezuela, had a swimming pool, play park, nightclub and a zoo
A zoo with tigers, lions, pumas and crocodiles to visit and play with.
A nightclub called ‘Tokio’ – the Spanish name for the Japanese city – where people can party, and a restaurant to dine at with friends.
An underground swimming pool and a play area for children.
A baseball field, a gambling room, a cryptocurrency area and a hut to access the internet and watch television.
Sounds almost like some kind of holiday resort or family getaway – but this is actually inside a prison in Venezuela, where gangs had run riot for so long they were in charge of the place.
This week authorities in the South American country sent in 11,000 troops to take back control of the Tocorón Prison.
Now images have emerged of exactly what it looks like inside – and it’s basically a mini-city.
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Gangs had run riot for so long they were in charge of the place and built a swimming pool
It even had a zoo with tigers, lions, pumas and crocodiles to visit and play with, which prisoners used to control people
A children’s play park was at the prison as inmates lived there with their families
The country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, wrote on social media: ‘I congratulate the more than 11 thousand members of the FANB (National Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela) and police forces for the successful intervention of the Tocorón Penitentiary Center.
‘We are heading towards a Venezuela free of criminal gangs.’
Footage of the raid showed one of the buildings being stormed by police and soldiers.
They discovered a tunnel system which had been built with several exits, including one which led to a lake.
It is thought inmates even lived there with their families and children
There was a baseball field at the jail in Venezuela
Prisoners could go to the nightclub and party with their friends
But the government took back control of the jail this week using 11,000 troops (Picture: @zuricht94 / X)
Map of what the inside of Tocorón Prison looked like (Picture: Metro Graphics)
Interior minister Remigio Ceballos said: ‘We have put an end to the irregularities in this space, we have detected some tunnels, in that tunnel system we have prevented a massive escape, and we have controlled all those deprived of liberty.’
Security officers were spotted carrying motorcycles, televisions, air conditioners, and microwaves out of the jail.
The Venezuelan government said it had regained ‘total control’ of the prison, which is in the northern state of Aragua, and had ‘dismantled a centre of conspiracy and crime’.
Some 6,000 inmates at Tocorón are now being transferred to other prisons.
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