The ‘Tren de Aragua’, the dangerous Venezuelan criminal organization that is already present in the Atlantic, the border and Bogotá

The authorities in Colombia are on alert due to the arrival of a group called ‘Train of Aragua’ which, according to the same Venezuelan authorities, is one of the most dangerous and powerful criminal gangs in the neighboring country.

This gang, whose organization is led from the Tocorón penitentiary, located in the state of Aragua, it would be reaching tentacles in the department of Atlántico and even in Bogotá.

According to the Barranquilla newspaper El Heraldo, on October 1 an operation of the Colombian National Army and Migration managed to capture four men who had been expelled from the country and who fled from detachment 212 of the Bolivarian National Guard of San Antonio del Táchira, border state with Colombia.

Those captured are accused of drug trafficking, criminal association, aggravated robbery and escape of prisoners. But the alert arose when Venezuelan security agencies told Colombian authorities that the men are part of ‘Tren de Aragua’.

The newspaper learned that the men stayed at a hotel near the Cúcuta transportation terminal, after entering one of the border trails used by migrants to enter Colombia illegally.

Further, they were planning to arrive at the Colombian coast to do the papers of the Colombian nationality illegally.

Military intelligence said the men “They had knowledge that other members of the band were in Colombia and had managed to stay in the country” after having the citizenship documents

Many of them were able to go to other countries such as Brazil, Ecuador and Peru to expand their power throughout the south of the continent.

‘Tren de Aragua’ obtains its illegal income through kidnapping, homicides, hit men, vehicle theft, arms trafficking, human trafficking, food smuggling and scams. Even the authorities believe that the “Drug trafficking is last in its way of receiving income.”

The source who spoke with the Barranquilla newspaper revealed to them that after the death of Bernardino Melean Frontado, alias Willy Melean, on November 6 in Santander, different members of this dangerous organization spread throughout “the whole country”, because they know they are in the sights of the Colombian authorities.

“We are aware that the cell of this band is in Soacha (Bogotá). Edinson Agustín Barrera, alias Catire, who was captured in Peru, left the assembled structure in Colombia and placed strategic chips in cities such as Cúcuta, Barranquilla, Valledupar, Riohacha and Bucaramanga, as well as in other areas of Norte de Santander, so that the band will take control ”, the source assured the Colombian newspaper.

In addition to ‘Catire’, another member who helped install the fearsome Venezuelan gang is José Luis Zarramera Franco alias Iyabó, who was assassinated in July 2019 in Villa del Rosario, Norte de Santander.

Both were following orders from Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, alias Niño Guerrero, who from Tocorón ordered the criminal operation to be launched in Colombia.

“This man has all the contacts. In fact, it has been known that he has established ties with several organized gangs such as the ‘Clan del Golfo’, and on the coast they have established alliances with the ‘Clan de Asalto Colobos’ and ‘Los Costeños’ to carry out some activities that they alone they know how to do ”.

In the Atlantic, this criminal gang operates in Barraquilla and the municipality of Soledad, where some areas in the north of the city, on the border with Puerto Colombia, among others, have gained territories such as the Center.

The authorities assure that many of the 76 Venezuelan citizens who were irregularly issued with the Registrar Galapa are part of one of these networks, as their objective is to reach the interior of the country.

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