The FBI is working with Colombia to continue to bring down more Venezuelan leaders Tren de Aragua

DORAL, Fla. – As a Venezuelan prison gang grew into a transnational criminal organization, investigators believe Carlos “Bobby” Gomez wreaked havoc in western South America.

Investigators believe Gomez followed orders from “Niño Guerrero“, the leader of Tren de Aragua born in the Venezuelan city of Maracay in the state of Aragua, where he co-founded the gang that later spread to South Florida.

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The FBI worked with Colombia’s National Police to take down Tren de Aragua, or the Aragua Train, whose members are accused of a long list of crimes, including illegal mining, kidnapping, extortion, cryptocurrency money laundering, narcotics trafficking , debt bondage. , and minor sex traffickers.

On Saturday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro shared a video in which he said a team had raided a building in Los Patios, near the border with Venezuela, and arrested Gomez, also known as Carlos Francisco Gómez Moreno, in a bedroom.

Investigators believe that “Larry Changa” and “Johan Petrica” ​​founded the gang with “EL Chino Pedrera” at the infamous Aragua Penitentiary Center, also known as Tocorón, where the gang had a swimming pool, gym, restaurants, bars and other luxuries. .

“El Chino Pedrera”, also known as José Gabriel Álvarez Rojas, was killed in 2016 in Venezuela. He was 31 years old.

Investigators believe Gomez was associated with “Larry Changa,” who left Venezuela in 2018 and operated “La Compañía,” the gang’s crime cell in Chile, until Colombian law enforcement arrested him in July.

Venezuelan officials reported disbanding the gang in 2023. Diosdado Cabello, a Venezuelan minister, said the gang was part of an “operation to destabilize” the US, and Yván Eduardo Gil Pinto, a Venezuelan diplomat, described it as “fiction created by the international media”.

Earlier this year, the US Treasury designate the gang as “a significant transnational criminal organization” abusing the US financial system. In July, the US State Department announced that there was a $12 million reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of “Niño Guerrero”, “Johan Petrica” and “El Viejo.”

In September, the US Border Patrol assisted in his arrest Estefania “La Barbie” Primeraa mother accused of running a violent Tren De Aragua operation at the Gateway Hotel in El Paso, Texas after crossing the US-Mexico border in 2023. She allegedly abused her children and sexually exploited migrants.

U.S. Homeland Security Investigations and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents reported arresting Tren de Aragua members Carl Zambrano and Jhonata Toro on September 26. The US Marshals Service and US Border Patrol assisted in the arrest of Ehiker Morales on October 11 in New Mexico. .

Zambrano, Toro and Morales were wanted for his murder Nilzuly Arnaud Petita Venezuelan migrant on August 24 in Texas. He was 33 years old. After the murder, HSI Dallas Special Agent Travis Pickard referred to the gang as “a plague.”

Several Tren de Aragua fugitives were arrested in November.

Colombian authorities have arrested “Jeison Comino”. Sweetwater Police officers arrested Abrahan DeJesus Mavo Bracho at Dolphin Mall. Luis Alejandro Ruiz Godoy was arrested on November 19 in Memphis, Tennessee. After the arrest, INTERPOL Washington acting director Jeffrey A. Grimming was released a statement saying that Ruiz Godoy traveled to the US via Mexico.

“Tren de Aragua has emerged as a significant threat to the United States as it infiltrates migration flows from Venezuela,” Grimming said, adding that federal agencies “will continue to provide critical information to our law enforcement partners on the mainland to strengthen national and border security. , ensuring that these violent gang members do not find safe harbor in our country.”

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