Senior Figure of Venezuelan Tren de Aragua Criminal Group Taken into Custody
National Police
The alleged head of the armed wing of the Venezuela-based organized crime group Aragua Train has been captured in a collaborative effort involving Colombian authorities, the United States, and the UK.
The national law enforcement announced that José Antonio Márquez Morales - referred to as his alias Caracas - was arrested in the urban area of Valledupar and asserted that he played a central role in managing the logistics and funding for the organization for extortion, drug trafficking, and smuggling.
The gang has been targeted by American leader Donald Trump, who designated it a extremist organization and sent back in excess of 250 people he asserted were associates of the syndicate to a jail in El Salvador.
The top police official, Triana Beltrán, mentioned that the individual was the subject of an international arrest warrant, which is a call to police worldwide to detain someone awaiting extradition.
Information of the detention emerged amid persistent strains between the United States and the Venezuelan government over the American leadership's fight against drug smuggling in the region.
The US has sent warships to the Caribbean Sea and in the previous month, attacked ships which the administration alleged were transporting illegal substances, seemingly originating in the South American nation to the US.
The American leadership has charged Venezuela's leader Nicolás Maduro of being collaborating with trafficking organizations and is offering a reward for information resulting in his arrest up to $50 million (equivalent to £37 million).
Maduro has vehemently denied American accusations and has justified his official policies against narcotics trade.
Related Topics
- The South American nation
- Trump administration
- Drugs trade
