At least 21 people, including ten official employees, have been arrested in Venezuela as part of an investigation into corruption in the state-owned oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela, announced Saturday, Prosecutor Tarek William Saab.

"We have ten arrested officials," said Saab, speaking of the new toll of arrests within the framework of the process that began last week and is still ongoing.

This anti-corruption “campaign,” as it was called by senior Venezuelan officials, including President Nicolás Maduro, led to the resignation of Oil Minister Tarek El Aissami, who was considered a key man in power. Among the 21 arrested are a number of his close associates.

Saab said he expects dozens more arrests, noting that those arrested are accused of "seizing or embezzling public property, abuse of power, money laundering, forming a gang, and treason."

Among those arrested was a deputy of the national oil company, Antonio Jose Perez Soares, and former deputy Ogbil Roa, one of the founders of the Venezuelan cryptocurrency Petro.

As for the 11 arrested persons who are not official employees, they are businessmen. One of them, Daniel Pietro, was arrested in the Dominican Republic while trying to escape.

The Public Prosecutor's report stated that the official employees carried out "oil operations parallel" to those established within the national company in Venezuela "by loading crude oil on ships (...) outside the supervision of the administration."

The Public Prosecutor did not reveal the value of the embezzlement, but the newspapers talked about "three billion dollars."

Hermann Askara, a deputy in the ruling party, spoke of $23 billion.

President Maduro, who has previously carried out anti-corruption operations in the country, said Monday that investigations were launched in October. He was especially impressed by the lifestyle of those officials who lived with great "opulence" like the "nouveau riche".

Since 2017, several investigations have affected the oil sector in Venezuela, which led to the arrest of about 200 employees and two oil ministers, Ológio Del Pino and Nelson Martinez. The latter died in prison.

Saab also explained that three judges were arrested last week on suspicion of corruption in cases unrelated to the current "campaign".

He also confirmed the arrest of Pedro Hernandez, the mayor of Tejerias in the northern center of the country, where the "El Conejo" gang, led by Carlos Gomes, was wreaking havoc. The authorities killed the latter on Thursday.