Bogota Colombia — Colombian police arrested one of the founders of the Tren de Aragua, a transnational gang that was founded in a Venezuelan prison and is now involved in multiple criminal enterprises throughout Latin America, authorities said Monday.
Larry Álvarez was arrested near the town of Circasia in central Colombia, according to a statement issued by the country’s national police, which shared a video showing a shirtless Álvarez being handcuffed by officers outside a small house. Police said the gang leader had tried to avoid arrest when officers approached.
Álvarez, also known as Larry Changa, is wanted in Chile and Venezuela for alleged crimes of terrorism, terrorist financing, arms trafficking, extortion and kidnapping, Colombian police said.
The 45-year-old is believed to be one of the three founders of the Tren de Aragua, a gang that began almost two decades ago in the Tocorón prison in Venezuela’s Aragua state. Recently, the gang has increased its influence in other South American countries, where prosecutors have accused it of running extortion and human trafficking rings targeting Venezuelan immigrants. Colombian prosecutors have also reported that the gang, whose name means “train” in Spanish, is also involved in drug shipments out of Colombia.
Colombian police said Álvarez escaped from Tocorón prison in 2015 and resurfaced in Chile three years later. But he later escaped to Colombia when Chilean authorities approached him and entered the country in 2022 with a fake ID.
Chilean prosecutors this year blamed the Tren de Aragua gang for the kidnapping and murder of a former Venezuelan army officer who had sought refuge in that country after being accused of leading a plot to overthrow Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Chilean prosecutors also blamed the gang for the murder of a local police officer, and President Gabriel Boric accused the Venezuelan government of not doing enough to investigate the leadership of the Tren de Aragua gang, a charge denied by Venezuelan prosecutors. .
Colombian police said Álvarez is currently in custody. Colombian authorities will now decide whether he will be extradited to Venezuela or Chile.
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