10 killed in Paraguay prison operation

At least 10 people were killed after a police and military operation was carried out on Monday (December 18) at Tacumbu Penitentiary in the Paraguayan capital of Asuncion, the National Police announced.

Nine inmates and an agent of the national police tactical group were killed, while 20 prisoners and 36 police and military agents were injured, according to the preliminary report.

The operation was carried out to recover control of the Tacumbu prison, which for years had been in the hands of the criminal group known as the Rotela Clan.

The National Police report said that after an intense confrontation with inmates, police and military agents reached the cellblock of the leader of the criminal faction Armando Javier Rotela, who finally turned himself in and was transferred to the Vinas Cue military prison.

Rotela, founder of the clan and considered the most dangerous Paraguayan criminal, controlled the prison, from which he directed drug trafficking and other related criminal activities both in the country and in the region.

During the operation, knives and firearms of different calibers, ammunition, homemade explosives, cell phones and narcotics were also seized.

(with inputs from Xinhua)