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Venezuela's anti-corruption police have arrested a mayor, two judges and the head of a regulatory body on corruption charges related to unusual operations in the ruling party, Venezuela's national television reported, citing Reuters.

Arrests of government officials accused of corruption are rare in Venezuela, whose public administration has been rated as "opaque" by rights groups such as Transparency International.

Police detained the former head of the crypto-assets regulatory authority Ramirez and Pedro Hernandez, who is the mayor of the city of Las Tejerias, which suffered flooding late last year.

Judges Cristóbal Cornieles and José Márquez García were also arrested.

Venezuela's state prosecutor's office said Sunday it had appointed five prosecutors to investigate the cases, adding that "the crimes are linked to different units of the government and include sectors strategic for national development."

Since 2018, Ramirez has headed the crypto-asset management body Sunacrip, which is responsible for Venezuela's official digital currency, the Petro.

According to a statement in the official state newspaper published on Saturday, he has been relieved of his post and the president has appointed a team to deal with the reorganization of the body, BTA reports.

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The pro-government newspaper Ultimas Noticias reported that Ramirez was being investigated for cases related to state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela.

It is one of the most large-scale actions by Venezuela's anti-corruption police since 2017, when months-long prosecutorial investigations led to the detention of several people in leadership positions of two former directors of Petroleos de Venezuela.

In 2018, authorities arrested several executives at the firm for administrative irregularities that affected crude oil upgrading operations, without giving further details.

One of them later died in prison.