Venezuelan Interior Ministry takes control of Miranda state police

June 13 (UPI) -- Venezuela's Interior Ministry said it has seized control of the Miranda state's police force over accusations of violating human rights and of criminal activity.

Venezuelan Interior and Justice Minister Gen. Nestor Reverol said his administration made the move after an investigation.

"The intervention of the police force of the Miranda state is made official after evaluating research that resulted in enough evidence to implicate officials in human rights violations and criminal networks," Reverol said in a statement on Monday.

Reverol said the move is authorized under Article 75 of the Venezuelan Constitution's Organic Law of the Police Service. He said an agency will set up an "intervention board" that will handle the Miranda police responsibilities for 180 days.

Henrique Capriles Radonski, governor of Venezuela's Miranda state and a key opposition leader, said in a statement on Monday that the move was an "military intervention."

Capriles Radonski said President Nicolas Maduro's "corrupt [government] and its sickly obsession with our Miranda and its government orders another attack, now against the police!" The governor urged the police not to take actions that violate the Constitution.

Venezuela has gone through more than two months of protests in which more than 60 people have died.