CARACAS, March 20 (Reuters) - Venezuela's oil minister Tareck El Aissami said on Monday he will resign and at least six officials were arrested following investigations by police into corruption, including at state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA).
"In light of the investigations that have begun about serious occurrences of corruption at PDVSA, I have taken the decision to present my resignation as Minister of Oil, with the intent to support, accompany and totally back this process," El Aissami, who has been minister since 2020, said on Twitter.
Venezuelan anti-graft police arrested a mayor, two judges and three government officials, at least two of whom are connected with PDVSA, state television and sources familiar with the matter said earlier on Monday.
Arresting government officials for corruption is rare in Venezuela, which rights groups such as Transparency International have described as opaque.
El Aissami has been under U.S. sanctions since 2017 for alleged connections to drug trafficking, which he denies.
According to sources familiar with the case, the arrested officials include Colonel Antonio Perez, a former vice president in charge of commerce and supply at PDVSA, and Colonel Samuel Testamarck, general manager of PDVSA's maritime arm PDV Marina.
One source said the PDVSA arrests were linked to an investigation into oil cargoes leaving the country without due payment to the company, and that other executives have been suspended from their posts.
PDVSA suffered heavy losses last year as tankers left Venezuela without proper payments being made for cargo. New PDVSA boss Pedro Tellechea ordered an audit and suspended oil supply contracts shortly after taking over the role in January.
Neither PDVSA nor the prosecutor's office immediately responded to requests for comment.
The prosecutor's office said on Sunday it was investigating crimes in different branches of government and connected to "strategic sectors," without giving more details.
Also arrested, state television said on Monday, were Mayor Pedro Hernandez of Las Tejerias, an area hit by floods that killed dozens late last year, and Joselit Ramirez, the former head of Venezuela's crypto-asset watchdog.
Ramirez had since 2018 led the body that issues Venezuela's official digital coin, the petro, but had been dismissed from the role, the official gazette said on Saturday. Pro-government newspaper Ultimas Noticias reported he is under investigation for cases linked to PDVSA.
Judges Cristobal Cornieles and Jose Marquez Garcia were also detained, state TV reported, without giving further details.
The arrests are the largest recent crackdown on alleged PDVSA corruption.
In 2017 several executives and two former presidents of the company were arrested, while in 2018 authorities detained a number of executives for administrative irregularities. (Reporting by Vivian Sequera, Mayela Armas, and Deisy Buitrago in Caracas, Mircely Guanipa in Maracay and Marianna Parraga in Houston; Writing by Sarah Morland and Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Josie Kao and Rosalba O'Brien)
