Carlos Luis Revette, known as 'El Koki', was the head of one of the most dangerous criminal organizations in the South American country.

"Five criminals who confronted the police ... were killed" during the operation that began on Monday night in central Aragua state, about 30 kilometers from Caracas, Ceballos said in a statement.

The government had offered a $500,000 bounty for information leading to the capture of Revette.

"We managed to arrest 13 criminals," said Ceballos. Four were women.

Regional and national police, scientific police, intelligences services and the National Guard all took part in the operation, which Ceballos said remained active.

Authorities are still looking to arrest one of Revette's main allies, Carlos Enrique Gomes, known as 'El Conejo' (the rabbit.)

Revette's gang was blamed for two days of intense firefighting in July 2021 in a poor Caracas neighborhood that left 22 suspected criminals and four officers dead.

Some 2,500 officers took part in the operation.

Venezuela recorded more than 11,000 violent deaths in 2021 -- a category that includes murder, deaths while resisting arrest and deaths that remain under investigation, according to the Venezuelan Violence Observatory.

It represented a rate of almost 41 per 100,000 inhabitants, one of the worst figures in the world.

Venezuela's populist socialist government accuses the United States and its South American ally Colombia of supporting criminal groups to try to destabilize President Nicolas Maduro.