US offers reward for these three leaders of the Aragua Train

The U.S. State Department, in cooperation with the Colombian government, announced multimillion-dollar rewards for information leading to the capture of three leaders of the Venezuelan mega-gang Tren de Aragua.

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By alias “Warrior Child“They offer up to US$5 million; for Yohan José Romero, alias “Johan Petrica“, up to US$4 million; and by Giovanny San Vicente, also known as “Giovanni“, up to US$3 million.

The State Department statement said that, based on information obtained in collaboration with the Colombian police, they believe that alias “Petrica” ​​is in Venezuela and the other two leaders are in Colombia.

However, General William Salamanca, director of the Colombian police, said the following in a press conference: “Criminals are always looking for a place to take refuge, and the police in Latin America have international cooperation operations to capture the subjects wherever they are, but we still have no information on whether these leaders are in Colombia.”

Major transnational criminal organization The Aragua Train

The Tren de Aragua is a criminal gang that emerged in the Tocorón prison in Venezuela, but has been expanding throughout Latin America.

“Represents a deadly criminal threat across the region“the U.S. Treasury Department said, adding that the organization “takes advantage of its transnational networks to traffic people, especially migrant women and girls”.

In recent weeks, Colombian authorities managed to capture alias “Larry Changa” and aliases “Solomon”.

According to General Salamanca, more than 80 members of the criminal group have already been arrested in the country.

The three leaders the US is looking for

Hector, alias “the Warrior Boy” is the top leader of the Aragua Train.

Their center of operations was the Tocorón prison, but following the operation carried out by police and military personnel in September 2023 to regain control of the prison from the gangs, it was learned that Guerrero escaped.

Eleven years earlier, he had already escaped from the same prison.

Guerrero’s role in the growth and expansion of the Aragua Train has been a leading one.

“When he returned to prison in 2013, the Aragua Train was still small, limited to Tocorón.

But under his leadership, it began to grow and strengthen.” Luis Izquiel, a criminal lawyer and criminology professor at the Central University of Venezuela, told BBC Mundo.

According to the State Department, “Petrica” is allegedly a lieutenant close to Guerrero.

“In 2015, Petrica made its presence felt in Las Claritas, a gold mining town near Venezuela’s borders with Brazil and Guyana.

The mines near Las Claritas contain the largest gold deposits in Venezuela.

In a short time, Petrica took full control of the area for Tren de Aragua,” US authorities reported

Drug trafficking crimes

He is accused of drug trafficking, human trafficking and money laundering. He is one of the founders of the Aragua Train, along with the “Warrior Child“and the recently captured”Larry Changa”.

For his part, alias “Giovanny” is one of the leaders of the gang’s operations in Bogotá.

According to Andrés Nieto, a security expert who spoke to local television channel CityTV, the Aragua Train in that city is dedicated to “identify smaller gangs that are already operating and make them part of the macrostructure by allowing them to use the name of the organization to extort money.”

Bogotá Mayor Carlos Fernando Galán said the top priority of the city’s Metropolitan Police is to find “Giovanny” and “Niño Guerrero.”

With information from BBC Mundo.

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