- Among the detainees is a lieutenant of the National Police and two of the top leaders who would have a direct link with the main coordinators of the ‘Tren de Aragua’ deprived of their liberty in Venezuela.
- With this investigative and operational action, progress was made in clarifying seven selective homicides. In two of these cases, the victims were wrapped in bags and abandoned on public roads.
The itinerant investigative work carried out by the Attorney General’s Office, and the joint efforts with the National Police and other authorities allowed obtaining the most important and structural result against the ‘Tren de Aragua’ in Bogotá.
In proceedings carried out in the southwest area and downtown the city, 19 members of this organization were arrested (11 by virtue of a court order -6 of the0 were Venezuelan citizens-, and 8 more in flagrante delicto). In the procedures, firearms, ammunition of different calibers, marijuana, bazuco, coca base, cell phones, 223 identification cards and sim cards were seized.
The arrested people were allegedly responsible for selective homicides, petty drug dealing, extortion of merchants, sale of adulterated liquor, among other criminal activities in the areas of Kennedy, Bosa and Santa Fe.
Among the detainees is a lieutenant assigned to the Kennedy police station and commander of CAI Caldas, known as alias T. The officer apparently facilitated the illegal actions of the ‘Tren de Aragua’ and warned it about judicial and investigative actions against its members, in exchange for gifts that ranged between one million and two million pesos per week.
Other people arrested were alias Osmer, a ringleader responsible for selective assassinations and the distribution of firearms in the areas of illegal interference; and alias Brayan, who would be in charge of obtaining drugs and weapons for the criminal organization.
These two men allegedly had a direct contact (sic) alias Giovanny and alias Niño Guerrero, two of the alleged top coordinators of the so-called ‘Tren de Aragua’ who remain deprived of liberty in prisons in Venezuela.
Likewise, alias William, the manager of a hotel downtown the city in which various illicit acts were allegedly planned and executed, was arrested.
Clarification of violent deaths.
The itinerant work carried out by the prosecutors of the Sectional Office in Bogotá and more than 300 hours of analysis of videos and photographs, among other investigative acts, revealed the criminal dynamic of those currently prosecuted.
The evidence collected against these people allowed progress in clarifying seven homicides that occurred in 2022. In two of these cases, the victims were violently attacked with sharp and blunt weapons, wrapped in plastic bags, and abandoned on public roads.
The 19 alleged members of the ‘Tren de Aragua’ were brought before judges who gave legality to all the arrests carried out with the Metropolitan Police of Bogotá.
The Prosecutor’s Office will charge these people, according to the possible level of participation, with homicide, aggravated conspiracy to commit a crime, trafficking, manufacture, and possession of firearms; trafficking, manufacture or possession of drugs; extortion, and bribery.
With this result, there are 25 members of the ‘Tren de Aragua’ who have been arrested and 23 firearms and a grenade have been seized.
When we speak, results follow.
The information contained in this press release corresponds to the narration of the objective news provided by the officials in charge of carrying out criminal investigations within the Office of the Attorney General. By the time this communication is disclosed, the legal status of the people mentioned is still pending to be resolved by the competent judicial authority, always under the presumption of innocence contemplated by Article 29 of the Political Constitution and Article 7 of Law 906 of 2004.