Cops nab founder of notorious Venezuelan gang linked to Laken Riley murder, NYC gun smuggling

Authorities in Colombia arrested a founder of El Tren de Aragua, the notorious Venezuelan gang that has infiltrated the US via the southern border and has been linked to crimes across the country — including the murder of college student Laken Riley and smuggling guns into migrant shelters in New York City.

The gang’s cofounder, 45-year-old Larry Álvarez, who also goes by Larry Changa — escaped prison in 2015 in Venezuela — fled to Chile and then Colombia — where he entered the country using a fake papers in 2022, according to Colombian authorities.

Álvarez, who is wanted by 196 countries and is accused of being one of three of the gang’s founders, was arrested in the central area of Circasia, Colombia’s defense ministry said Monday.

Police in Venezuela and Chile also have warrants for his arrest for terrorism, arms trafficking, aggravated extortion and kidnapping.

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Several high-profile migrant crimes in the US have been carried out by members of Tren de Aragua, leading federal authorities to open more than 100 investigations related to the gang, according to a report by NBC News .

Suspects in the US tied to the transnational gang — whose name means “The Aragua Train” in English because it started as a railway worker’s union from that region — include Jose Ibarra, the Venezuelan migrant who allegedly killed Georgia nursing student Laken Riley and Bernardo Raul Castro Mata , who is accused of shooting two NYPD cops on June 3, according to authorities.

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Castro Mata previously told cops he was was recruited by the Venezuelan gang’s Big Apple “coordinator” to be part of its group of “snatch and grab” moped thieves, authorities said.

He also revealed that the gang is smuggling guns into NYC migrant shelters by concealing them in food delivery bags, according to prosecutors.

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“Tren de Aragua members are smuggling firearms into city shelters in food delivery packages – that way they don’t have to go through the metal detectors,” Castro Mata told police in recordings taken after he turned on the crew, authorities revealed.

He also revealed that the gang commonly shoots at cops because police in Venezuela “shoot gang members for minor infractions,” according to court records.

The gang also continues to be an issue for the Venezuelan government, which sent 11,000 soldiers in September 2023 to seize a prison the gang took control of in the region of Tocorón.

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