Caracas: Venezuelan authorities
have destroyed more than 251,000 firearms since 2003,
according to the Interior and Justice Ministry.
In an interview on the TV programme Toda Venezuela, the
deputy minister of Interior and Justice, Edwin Rojas, said
more than 117,000 firearms were eliminated in 2011.
"That was possible thanks to the execution of several
security programmes fostered by the Venezuelan government to
guarantee citizens' coexistence without firearms and to reduce
violence and crime," Rojas stated.
Rojas said the goal is to destroy all weapons seized,
after the technical investigation stipulated by the Office of
the Public Ministry and the Department of Scientific, Penal
and Crime Investigation (CIPC).
Authorities plan to destroy 130,000 firearms by this
years' end, which would set a record in Latin America and an
example of the effectiveness of national policies in that
regard.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, November 12, 2011, 14:30