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BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) \u2014 Colombian police arrested one of the founders of 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.<\/p>\n
Larry \u00c1lvarez was arrested near the town of Circasia in central Colombia, according to a statement released by the country’s national police, which shared a video showing a shirtless \u00c1lvarez being handcuffed by agents outside a small home. Police said the gang leader had tried to avoid arrest as agents approached.<\/p>\n
\u00c1lvarez, also known as Larry Changa, is wanted in Chile and Venezuela for the alleged crimes of terrorism, financing terrorism, weapons trafficking, extortion and kidnapping, Colombia\u2019s police said.<\/p>\n
The 45-year-old is believed to be one of the three founders of the Tren de Aragua, a gang that started almost two decades ago in the Tocoron prison in Venezuela\u2019s Aragua state. Recently, the gang has increased its influence in other South American countries, where prosecutors have accused it of running extortion rackets and human trafficking networks that target Venezuelan migrants. Colombian prosecutors have also reported that the gang, whose name means \u201ctrain\u201d in Spanish, is also involved in drug shipments out of Colombia.<\/p>\n
Colombian police said \u00c1lvarez escaped from the Tocoron prison in 2015 and resurfaced in Chile three years later. But he later escaped to Colombia as Chilean authorities closed in on him, and entered the country in 2022, using a fake ID.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors in Chile this year blamed the Tren de Aragua gang for the kidnapping and murder of a former Venezuelan army official who had sought refuge in that country after being accused of leading a plot to overthrow Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a>.<\/p>\n Chilean prosecutors also blamed the gang for the murder of a local police officer, with President Gabriel Boric accusing the Venezuelan government of not doing enough to investigate the leadership of the Tren de Aragua gang \u2014 a charge denied by Venezuelan prosecutors.<\/p>\n Colombian police said that \u00c1lvarez is currently in custody. Officials in Colombia will now decide whether he will be extradited to Venezuela or Chile.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Follow AP\u2019s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/latin-america<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n