Las Claritas Sindicato

Las Claritas Sindicato is one of the most powerful and long-standing criminal groups engaged in illegal mining in Bolívar state, southern Venezuela. Las Claritas is the only “sindicato”—the ”colloquial name for armed mining gangs—that has escaped persecution by security forces. On the contrary, according to multiple sources and reports, it has maintained agreements with elements of the state.

The group controls some of the most important mining localities in Bolívar, where it organizes and collects taxes from miners and traders. It also exerts strict control over nearby towns, imposing its own laws and punishments on those who disobey.

The Story Behind Las Claritas Sindicato

Las Claritas Sindicato—also known as the Juancho Sindicato, after one of its leaders, Juan Gabriel Rivas Núñez, alias “”Juancho”—has operated in Bolívar for more than a decade, according to whistleblower testimony by former chief commissioner José Gregorio Lezama, who once commanded an anti-kidnapping unit in the state.

The report, written in January 2016 and later leaked to the press, states that starting in 2010, then-Governor Francisco Rangel Gómez and his right-hand man, local police chief Julio César Fuentes Manzulli, provided weapons and protection to several criminal groups, granting Juancho control of “the mines in the south of the state, from El Dorado to Las Claritas.”

Another intelligence report, prepared in 2016 by First Lieutenant Jesús Curvelo, also corroborated the ties between Rangel Gómez, Fuentes Manzulli, and Juancho and detailed their gold trafficking activities.

Between 2015 and 2017, a prominent criminal leader joined the syndicate, according to local sources who spoke to InSight Crime on condition of anonymity for security reasons. Yohan José Romero, alias “Johan Petrica,” one of the founders of Tren de Aragua, arrived in the area after allegedly fleeing security operations against him in 2015.

Rangel Gómez’s administration ended in 2017, ushering in a new political context in Bolívar with the arrival of military officer Justo Noguera Pietri as governor, alongside renewed interest from President Nicolás Maduro following the 2016 launch of the Orinoco Mining Arc (Arco Minero del Orinoco – AMO).

Soon after, in 2018, the national government launched “Operation Metal Hands” (Operación Manos de Metal) to dismantle gold mafias in Bolívar. The campaign targeted more than 30 traffickers, many of them allies of the previous governor, but neither Juancho nor Petrica were named among them.

Juancho’s name first appeared in official reports in June 2023, when security forces moved against his faction during anti-mining operations in Sifontes. Petrica was neither mentioned nor targeted. In fact, according to sources in Las Claritas interviewed anonymously, the official operations against Juancho may have been orchestrated by Petrica himself.

Juancho’s name disappeared from Las Claritas around November 2023, when he was arrested in Boa Vista, Roraima, northern Brazil, according to Venezuela’s extradition request. He spent time in prison before being granted house arrest. Brazilian authorities approved his extradition to Venezuela in April 2025, but a month later discovered that Juancho had escaped, leaving behind a lookalike with his electronic ankle bracelet, according to Brazilian press reports.

Juancho’s absence appears to have cleared the way for Petrica, who consolidated control of the syndicate, according to several Las Claritas residents interviewed by InSight Crime. Since then, the group has not only maintained its hold on the area but expanded into new enclaves along Troncal 10, the highway that cuts across southern Bolívar toward Brazil, such as Kilometer 27, and into Indigenous territories with gold deposits.

The Criminal Economies Run by Las Claritas Sindicato

Las Claritas Sindicato profits from coordinating and taxing mining activity in its territory, including extraction, refining, and trafficking.

The group is also linked to extortion, demanding payments from miners and traders, especially those involved in buying and selling gold, in exchange for protection, a practice known as charging vacunas – or vacinations.

Who Leads Las Claritas Sindicato?

From the outset, leadership of the group was in the hands of Rivas Núñez, a Colombian national who allegedly obtained Venezuelan citizenship thanks to his ties with Maduro’s government, according to Curvelo’s account.

Amid Venezuelan security force crackdowns and his later arrest in Brazil, Juancho’s control over Las Claritas weakened, paving the way for Petrica’s rise.

Petrica, originally from Aragua state, was imprisoned at Tocorón prison, where he helped Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, alias “Niño Guerrero,” form Tren de Aragua. His criminal record includes extortion, illegal possession of weapons, robbery, kidnapping, and homicide.

The secrecy surrounding the Sindicato’s leaders appears to be deliberate. Local sources told InSight Crime that Petrica avoids being publicly recognized by forbidding people from calling him by name. In both Kilometer 88 and Las Claritas, he is known as “Darwin” or “El Viejo,” an alias also used by other local criminals and even by members of the syndicate.

Another prominent figure is the group’s main lieutenant, Humberto Martes, an older man who was the first to be known as “El Viejo” in Las Claritas before Petrica’s arrival, and who is still called by that alias by some. Locals say Martes has been active in the area for 20 years, longer than Rivas Núñez himself.

Where Does Las Claritas Sindicato Operate?

The syndicate’s territory is centered in Sifontes municipality, Bolívar, a strategic region for gold trafficking and part of the Orinoco Mining Arc (AMO).

The group controls sections of Troncal 10, an important highway running across much of the municipality. However, its core operations and mining activities are concentrated in Kilometer 88, Las Claritas, and surrounding areas.

These towns are in a strategic position for gold smuggling, located near the Guyana border and on the road to Brazil, about three hours away.

Who Are The Allies and Enemies of Las Claritas Sindicato?

The mining gang has forged alliances with state elements since its inception. Bolívar State Governor Rangel Gómez and his right-hand man, Fuentes Manzulli, were allies of the group, according to Lezama’s report.

This relationship guaranteed the gang multiple benefits, especially protection from security force operations. The report describes how, in the early years of the group, several members were released after being captured. It also notes that their criminal records were erased from the system and claims that state officials were involved in gold-related businesses.

Multiple field sources confirmed that the Las Claritas Syndicate established a non-aggression pact with other mining gangs in Sifontes municipality to respect each other’s areas of influence, such as the “Negro Fabio” gang in El Dorado, led by Fabio Enrique González Isaza, and Organization R in Tumeremo, led by Eduardo José Natera Balboa, alias “Run.”

What Does the Future of Las Claritas Sindicato Look Like?

The Las Claritas Syndicate has survived and prospered under various governors and campaigns, both from security forces and rival armed groups seeking to control the gold trade. Over the years, it has consolidated its control over the lucrative mining territory with no challenge to its position.

Should the state decide to dislodge the syndicate, it will need significant firepower, as well as strong state institutions, to dismantle a well-trained criminal group that has established a tight social control over the vast mining enclave.