BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombian police have arrested one of the founders of Tren de Aragua, a transnational gang founded in a Venezuelan prison and now involved in multiple criminal enterprises in Latin America, authorities said Monday.
Larry Álvarez was arrested near the central Colombian city of Circasia, according to a statement from 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 as officers approached.
Álvarez, also known as Larry Changa, is wanted in Chile and Venezuela for alleged terrorism offenses, terrorism financing, arms trafficking, extortion and kidnapping, Colombian police said.
The 45-year-old is believed to be one of three founders of the Tren de Aragua, a gang that began nearly two decades ago in the Tocoron prison in the Venezuelan state of Aragua. The gang has recently expanded its influence in other South American countries, where prosecutors accuse it of running extortion rackets and human trafficking rings that target Venezuelan migrants. Colombian prosecutors have also said the gang, whose name means “train” in Spanish, is also involved in drug trafficking operations from Colombia.
According to Colombian police, Álvarez escaped from Tocoron prison in 2015 and resurfaced in Chile three years later. But he later escaped to Colombia when Chilean authorities detained him, and entered the country in 2022 using a false ID.
Prosecutors in Chile this year blamed the Tren de Aragua gang for the kidnapping and murder of a former Venezuelan military 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, while 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. Officials in Colombia will now decide whether to extradite him to Venezuela or Chile.
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