Colombia captures Aragua train and 152 Gulf clan members

(CNN Spanish) — The Anti-Kidnapping and Anti-Extortion Directorate of the Colombian Police executed 152 arrest warrants this Saturday during a simultaneous operation against members of the Tren de Aragua and Clan del Golfo criminal gangs in the main cities of Colombia.

The director of the police department, Alvar Vicente Sanabria, told the press that they managed to seize 450 electronic devices, which, he assured, “will be fundamental for other investigative processes.”

He also announced the seizure of weapons and explosives.

According to reports by the Insight Crime organization and the United States government, the Aragua Train is classified as the largest and most powerful criminal gang in Venezuela.

Insight Crime adds that the origins of this mega-gang, which was based in the Tocorón prison, at least until its expulsion, in 2005 lay in the union of workers who were working on the construction of a railway project that would link Aragua. and to the Carabobo states. Hence it was named ‘Aragua Train’.

According to NGO reports, the union began charging fees for the assignment of jobs and extorted money from contractors in exchange for protection. Gradually he expanded his criminal activities.

For its part, the Clan del Golfo is a dangerous Colombian criminal gang dedicated to drug trafficking and extortion that, according to the National Police, is one of the “most dangerous international crime organizations”.

Who leads the Aragua Train, how many members does it have and what are its main crimes?

Transparency Venezuela states that the organization is dedicated to the illegal extraction of minerals, the illegal trafficking of drugs, weapons and scrap metal, and the collection of “dues” – the fees that, apparently, every prisoner must pay in prisons. Venezuela – For robbery, kidnapping and human trafficking.

Both the NGO and InSight Crime point out that this last crime has fueled the expansion of El Tren de Aragua, following in the footsteps of millions of Venezuelan migrants to other countries.

Transparency Venezuela assures that the criminal megagang has more than 4,000 members. In all of them, Hector Rusterford Guerrero Flores, alias “Nino Guerrero”, is the main leader.

The organization states that “Nino Guerrero”‘s criminal career has been reported since 2005, when he was arrested for the murder of an officer.

In September 2012, while he was detained in Tokoron prison, he was reported to have escaped. “Nino Guerrero” was recaptured in 2013 in Barquisimeto, central western Venezuela.

Transparency Venezuela comments, “According to information published at the time, he had been working in the region for two months and carrying a false identity,” although he was initially sent to Los Llanos Penitentiary Center, but returned. Came. Jail soon. From Tokoron.

On December 15, 2016, a trial court in the state of Aragua sentenced Guerrero to 17 years and two months in prison for being responsible for twelve crimes, including intentional murder, prison escape, concealment of a weapon of war, drug trafficking and collaboration. Heard. To commit a crime.

Guerrero has never given interviews, nor has he mentioned sentences from the Venezuelan justice system.

Insight Crime states that “Nino Guerrero” was in Tocorone prison; However, according to the Venezuelan Prison Observatory, he may have left prison a few days before the government operation.

The Venezuelan Prison Observatory assures that the government’s operation to take over the Tocorón prison was previously discussed and negotiated with “Nino Guerrero” and other close associates, always according to that version, a few days before the takeover. Used to leave the facility. Informing the prison population.

CNN has not been able to independently verify this information.

In a press conference called this Thursday, the Minister of the Interior, Justice and Peace, Remigio Ceballos, did not respond to that version. When asked about El Tren de Aragua, the officer responded that in the operation they had “captured members of criminal groups active in the state of Aragua and other parts of the country.” He never mentioned the band by name.

With information from Osmari Hernandez from CNN.