Colombia Captures Alleged Founder of Venezuela's Tren de Aragua Gang

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Facts

  • Colombian authorities announced on Monday the arrest of Larry Álvarez, alias 'Larry Changa,' one of the suspected founders of Tren de Aragua, a transnational gang that was established nearly two decades ago in Venezuela's Tocorón prison.1
  • Changa was captured in a rural area in Quindío province after police tracked him down in the small town of Circasia. Upon his arrest, Changa was set to be transferred to the country's capital, Bogotá.2
  • This comes as the alleged gang leader spent nine years on the loose after breaking out from the Tocorón prison in 2015. He reportedly entered Colombia with a fake ID in 2022 after a years-long stint in Chile.1
  • Changa was reportedly wanted in 196 different countries, including Chile and his native Venezuela, on charges such as aggravated extortion, arms trafficking, financing terrorism, kidnapping, money laundering, and terrorism.3
  • Last week, Colombian police captured Salomón Fernández Torres in Aguazul, Casanare. He is said to be a key leader of Tren de Aragua in Bogotá and the right-hand man of its top leader, Niño Guerrero.4
  • According to a report from NBC News last month, Tren de Aragua is connected to more than 100 crimes in the US, including sex trafficking rings and the shooting of two police officers in New York City.5

Sources: 1Associated Press, 2BBC News, 3Colombiaone, 4The City Paper Bogotá and 5NBC.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by Voz Media. While it's great news that Larry Changa has finally been caught, it's pressing to understand that Tren de Aragua is all but a mere police case. Behind the fastest-growing criminal organization in the Western Hemisphere lies the support of the Bolivarian dictatorship in Venezuela and the open complicity of the entire continent. It's about time to change that.
  • Narrative B, as provided by teleSURenglish. Venezuela has been actively working to bring members of Tren de Aragua to justice, so attempts to somehow link this transnational gang to the Bolivarian Republic are baseless and part of an outrageous smear campaign. Changa was captured thanks to international cooperation, and many others could be arrested if the US started to cooperate, too.