Salvatore Mancuso, alias “El Mono” or “Santander Lozada,” is a former Colombian paramilitary commander who was part of the Peasant Self Defence Forces of Córdoba and Urabá (Autodefensas Campesinas de Córdoba y Urabá – ACCU) and the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia – AUC). In February 2024, after serving more than 15 years for drug trafficking in the United States, he returned to Colombia, where he was appointed a peace manager as part of President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” initiative. 

History

Salvatore Mancuso Gómez was born on August 17, 1964, in Montería, a city in the department of Córdoba in northern Colombia. Born to an Italian father and a Colombian mother, Mancuso studied civil engineering and agricultural administration at university. 

In the early 1990s, Mancuso became the administrator of several cattle ranches and was extorted by the Popular Liberation Army (Ejército Popular de Liberación – EPL), a guerrilla movement. From this point, he began to collaborate as an informant for the Colombian army in the department of Códoba to help their fight against the EPL. 

His work with the army became known to brothers Carlos and Vincente Castaño, the main leaders of the ACCU, a paramilitary movement that sought to combat the expansion of the guerrillas in that area of Colombia. Mancuso joined the ACCU in 1994, where he was initially in charge of networking with local and regional politicians. 

In 1995, he created the Nuevo Horizonte Surveillance and Security Cooperative in the municipality of Tierralta, Córdoba. The legal basis for the Cooperative came from a 1994 Colombian government decree, allowing the creation of civilian groups to collaborate with military forces in matters of security and public order. Through the Nuevo Horizonte Cooperative, and other cooperatives created by ACCU members, the paramilitaries were able to gain access to arms and resources and strengthen their political and military networks.

Beginning in 1996, Mancuso led the ACCU’s expansion into northern Colombia, specifically in the departments of Sucre, Bolívar, Cesar, Magdalena, La Guajira, and Atlántico. For this, he made use of alliances with political, economic, and military elites that made it possible for the paramilitaries to enter these areas. 

In 1997, the Castaño brothers created the AUC, a federation of different self-defense movements with a presence in a wide range of places in Colombia. Mancuso became a member of what was known as the AUC General Staff, and in 1999 he led the AUC’s entry into the department of Norte de Santander through the Catatumbo Bloc. 

After the resignation of Carlos Castaño as commander general of the AUC in 2001, Mancuso assumed an even more prominent role within the organization. From 2002 onwards, he accompanied the dialogue process between the AUC and the Colombian government, and subsequently, the demobilization process of the paramilitary blocs between 2003 and 2006. 

Mancuso demobilized in December 2004. In May 2008, he was extradited to the United States for drug trafficking crimes, along with 12 other paramilitary leaders. In October 2008, he made a plea agreement with US prosecutors and was sentenced to 15 years and one month in prison. The agreement recognized the time Mancuso spent in jail in Colombia, helping to shorten his sentence. 

Mancuso finished his sentence in the United States in March 2020 but was not released immediately. Instead, he was put in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while his immigration status was being resolved. Although he asked to be deported to Italy, where he is a citizen, the Colombian government requested his extradition to serve outstanding sentences in the ordinary and transitional Justice and Peace courts. 

While serving time in the United States, Mancuso had in 2018 requested to be included in the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz – JEP), a transitional tribunal created in Colombia to judge the acts committed by former combatants of the demobilized guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – FARC). His request was based on his having been a third-party collaborator or financier of paramilitarism between 1989 and 1997. By being accepted into the JEP, Mancuso would be eligible for transitional benefits within the framework of the judicial proceedings against him, should he be extradited to Colombia. 

However, in 2020 the JEP denied his request, stating that Mancuso had not been a civilian or a third party to paramilitary groups, but that, on the contrary, he was part of the armed structure of the organization. In November 2023, Mancuso’s legal team appealed the decision. The JEP accepted Mancuso’s submission to the court, arguing his role was being a hinge between politicians, military, and businessmen and the paramilitary groups.

In February 2024, almost four years after he had finished his sentence in the United States, Mancuso returned to Colombia. 

Criminal Activity

Drug trafficking was a key activity that marked Mancuso’s time with the AUC. According to the US government court documents, Mancuso, together with other paramilitary leaders, was behind the shipment of several tons of cocaine from Colombia to the United States via ports in Central America and the Caribbean. The Italian justice system has also carried out investigations against him for drug trafficking. 

While serving his sentence in the United States, Mancuso was convicted in Colombia by the Justice and Peace courts, the transitional justice mechanism created in the legal framework of paramilitary demobilization, for the thousands of criminal acts he committed during his time as an AUC commander. These included homicides, displacements, forced disappearances, recruitment of minors, and torture, among others. 

In Colombia, Mancuso is currently under investigation for money laundering associated with drug trafficking.

Geography

Mancuso had influence in northern Colombia, specifically in the departments of Córdoba, Sucre, Bolivar, Atlántico, Magdalena, Cesar, La Guajira, Norte de Santander, and some municipalities in the department of Antioquia. He oversaw massacres in these regions. 

Allies and Enemies

During his time with the ACCU and the AUC, Mancuso directly confronted Colombian guerrillas, mainly the EPL, the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional – ELN) and the FARC, in the different areas of the country. 

While he was part of the AUC, Mancuso, an Italian citizen, had links to the Italian ‘Ndrangheta mafia. 

He also had networks for laundering drug money. One of the best known was with Italian businessman Giorgio Sale, who through his businesses, laundered drug money for the AUC. Mancuso also allegedly laundered money through the gambling business of Enilse Lopez, alias “La Gata,” a businesswoman from the Caribbean coast who had close ties to paramilitary groups in northern Colombia. 

Mancuso also weaved a web of connections with politicians, military officials, and businessmen that allowed the paramilitary expansion into different parts of the country. In the different hearings he has held before the Colombian justice system, he has mentioned high-ranking military officers, former presidential candidates, ex-presidents, and multinational banana and coal companies, who allegedly collaborated with paramilitary groups in Colombia. 

Prospects

In August 2023, Mancuso was appointed peace manager in the framework of Total Peace, the project through which the government seeks to conduct negotiations with different armed criminal groups. As peace manager, Mancuso could facilitate dialogue with different armed groups, including those started after the demobilization of the AUC.

However, Mancuso’s appointment has generated debate, with some jurists believing that it is not clear what role Mancuso can play as a peace manager, considering that he demobilized almost 20 years ago. 

On July 10, 2024, Mancuso left La Picota prison in Bogotá – where he had been held since February – following a court order. He is expected to begin his work as a peace manager and contribute to clarifying the truth of paramilitarism in the country.

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Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, alias “Niño” Guerrero,” is the main leader of Tren de Aragua, the most important criminal group in Venezuela. The organization’s expansion and transnational reach in different Latin American countries has positioned Niño Guerrero as one of the most renowned prison leaders, also known as pranes, in the region.

Since the Venezuelan government intervention in the Tocorón prison, the former criminal stronghold of Tren de Aragua, Niño Guerrero’s whereabouts are unknown.

Despite losing his center of operations in Venezuela, Niño Guerrero is at large and continues to direct Tren de Aragua’s operations. Thanks to the group’s transnational presence, his criminal reputation has grown significantly. With an Interpol red notice and the US State Department offering a $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest in July 2024, he has become one of the most wanted criminals in South America.

History

Niño Guerrero was born on December 2, 1983, in Maracay, Aragua state, a municipality just over a hundred kilometers from Caracas, Venezuela’s capital. Around the year 2000, Guerrero entered the local criminal scene, attacking police officers and getting involved in micro-trafficking businesses.

According to Venezuelan Supreme Court records from September 3, 2005, Niño Guerrero killed an Aragua police officer, which put him on the radar of the authorities. By that time, Tren de Aragua already had a criminal reputation for kidnapping and extorting businessmen and bribing public officials.

In 2010, authorities captured Niño Guerrero while he was dealing stolen goods and trafficking drugs in his native Maracay. By this point, Guerrero has three murder charges to his name. As a result, he was imprisoned in the Aragua penitentiary, also known as Tocorón, until 2012, when he escaped.

In June 2013, Niño Guerrero was recaptured in Barquisimeto, Lara state, where for months he had been robbing homes. From here, his criminal career began rising.

Despite being imprisoned, Niño Guerrero appeared in 2015 at a party in one of the many neighborhoods of Maracay under Tren de Aragua’s control. At the party, he introduced himself as the group’s leader and promised that he would improve living conditions for local residents.

A year later, Niño Guerrero appeared in court in Maracay, where he was charged with several murders, multiple residential robberies, carrying weapons, drug trafficking, and the escape from Tocorón. In February 2018, Guerrero accepted the crimes he was charged with and was sentenced to 17 years in prison.

But this conviction did not diminish the power of Niño Guerrero or Tren de Aragua. The prison-based organization continued its expansion within Venezuela, and by 2020, the group was estimated to have around 1,000 members answering to Niño Guerrero’s orders.

From inside Tocorón, Niño Guerrero built a center of operations filled with luxurious accommodations. For starters, he lived in a two-story house inside the prison, where he received any visitors he wanted. He also had access to a swimming pool, baseball field, discotheque, restaurants, and even a zoo.

Today, Tren de Aragua’s power extends across Venezuela, where it controls gold mines in the state of Bolívar, drug corridors on the Caribbean coast, and part of the clandestine border crossings, also known as trochas, through which thousands of migrants cross the border with Colombia. But the group has also positioned in countries are the region such as Colombia, Peru, Chile, and Bolivia.

On September 20, 2023, Venezuelan authorities launched a large-scale security operation inside Tocorón prison. At least 11,000 police and military personnel entered the prison. But they failed to find Guerrero and the group’s leaders. Sources interviewed in Aragua claim that Tren de Aragua’s leaders had negotiated with the government and agreed on an escape plan days before the prison takeover.

Criminal Activities

The most important criminal economies that Niño Guerrero controls, whether through Tren de Aragua factions or under his direct supervision, include extortion, kidnapping, drug trafficking, contract killings, car theft, and migrant smuggling and human trafficking.

The group’s criminal portfolio extends to their control of extortion rackets, migrant smuggling, and human trafficking in Peru, Chile, and Colombia. Their incursion into these criminal businesses has also been responsible for the deterioration of security and increase in homicides in these countries.

With the loss of Tocorón, Niño Guerrero also stopped receiving important criminal revenues. The prison population was obliged to contribute to the “cause” via a prison tax that ranged from $10 to $15 each week or month, depending on the benefits received. 

Beyond the prison walls, in the different neighborhoods of Maracay in Aragua, the gang still exercises criminal governance and enforces curfews, engages in vehicle theft, and receives extortion payments from merchants and local inhabitants.

Police sources investigating the Tren de Aragua in Chile and Peru claim that a portion of the criminal income the organization receives abroad ends up in Guerrero’s pockets. This is made possible through remittances and bank transfers of small sums to avoid alerting the financial authorities.

Geography

Niño Guerrero concentrated much of his power in the territorial control he exercises in central Venezuela, especially in the state of Aragua. To date, the reach of the Tren de Aragua has extended to the states of Lara, Trujillo, Sucre, Miranda, Guárico, Carabobo and Bolívar.  

Added to this is the rapid and wide-ranging international expansion of the gang. In Colombia, the group has appeared in Bogotá, the country’s capital, where it fought with local gangs for control over micro-trafficking and zones where forced prostitution takes place. The group has also established itself in key migration points such as Cúcuta, a city that shares a border with Venezuela.

In Chile and Peru, transnational cells have followed the path of Venezuelan migrants, preying on their vulnerabilities through extortion and sexual exploitation. Something similar has happened in Ecuador, where members of the Tren de Aragua have camouflaged themselves with the recently arrived Venezuelan migrants, whom they have begun to extort to allow them to enter the country.

Although US and Colombian authorities believe Guerrero is hiding out in Colombia, Venezuelan security officials consulted by InSight Crime say that after leaving Tocorón he found refuge in the mining area of Las Claritas, in the municipality of Sifontes, Bolívar state, where he is protected by Yohan José Romero, alias “Johan Petrica,” one of the main leaders of the Tren de Aragua.

Allies and Enemies

In addition to the support that Niño Guerrero receives from Petrica in the Bolívar mining fields, the leadership of the Tren de Aragua also includes Larry Amaury Álvarez, alias “Larry Changa,” who migrated to Chile in 2018, and is believed to have helped coordinate the group’s international expansion prior to his arrest in Colombia in July 2024.

Below the main leaders are the lieutenants, locally known as “luceros.” In this list of Guerrero’s subordinates and trusted men, Wilmer Perez Castillo, alias “Wilmer Guayabal”, José Santana, alias “Santanita”, José Alvarado, alias “Goyo Chevrolet”, and a man identified as Kleiverson or alias “Flipper” who manages part of the group’s operations through campaigns in the Somos el Barrio JK Foundation, a pseudo-social community organization, stand out. 

Niño Guerrero also has several local satellite gangs that serve as an alternative source of members and resources. One example is Flipper’s gang, the Las Veras gang, led by the late “Carlos Conejo”, the Coty gang, and the El Asdrubal gang, among others.

The gang’s criminal rivalries vary from country to country. In Bogotá, authorities have reported on the Tren de Aragua’s clashes with different criminal gangs for control of drug trafficking. In Cúcuta, a Colombian city bordering Venezuela, local media reported in 2021 that the group clashed with the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional – ELN), the last guerrilla group standing in the western hemisphere.

In March 2024, Niño’s brother, Gerso Isaac Guerrero Flores, was arrested in Barcelona, Spain. Although his activities on European soil are unknown, Venezuelan authorities secured his extradition from Spain in July 2024 to face charges related to his involvement and important role in the Tren de Aragua.

Prospects

While Niño Guerrero lost his center of operations after the Tocorón intervention, the national and international operations of the Tren de Aragua appear to remain intact. The rapid adaptation shown by its members abroad and the diversification of its business, allowed in part the fall of Tocorón to become a symbolic loss rather than a structural blow.

However, despite the accelerated growth of the gang in the region, Guerrero’s inability to cross borders easily due to his high profile could result in the loss of influence over gang members abroad, leading to future structural fragmentation.

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Tren de Aragua is Venezuela’s most powerful homegrown criminal actor and the only Venezuelan gang that has successfully projected its power abroad. It has grown from a prison gang limited to the state of Aragua, to a transnational threat with a wide criminal portfolio.

This transnational expansion came on the backs of Venezuelan migrants fleeing the country. From Tocorón prison in Aragua, the gang oversaw and profited from cells established in at least three other South American countries. However, in September 2023, 11,000 Venezuelan police and military personnel, backed by armored vehicles, stormed Tocorón to seemingly take control of what had been Tren de Aragua’s center of operations. Despite the blow of losing Tocorón, the gang’s leadership escaped, and its transnational cells continue to operate.

Tren de Aragua’s expansion to Colombia, Peru, and Chile has, in certain cases, upended local criminal landscapes and attracted significant attention from the authorities within these countries and across the region. Concern among some lawmakers in the United States about the group’s potential expansion there led the country’s Treasury Department to sanction Tren de Aragua as a transnational criminal organization in July 2024. Additionally, the US State Department has offered  $12 million in rewards for information leading to the arrests of three of its main leaders.

History

Tren de Aragua was born in the Tocorón prison in the state of Aragua. The group’s name, which roughly translates to the Aragua Train, may have originated from a labor union working on a railway project through the state which was never finished.

Héctor Rustherford Guerrero Flores, alias “Niño Guerrero,” turned Tren de Aragua into what it is today during his imprisonment in Tocorón.

Under Niño Guerrero’s leadership, Tocorón became one of the country’s most notorious prisons, in large part due to the Venezuelan government’s unofficial policy of handing control of some prisons, including Tocorón, over to crime bosses known as pranes. This freedom and the gang’s criminal income allowed for the construction of a zoo, swimming pool, playground, restaurant, and nightclub within the prison.

With the gang’s control firmly cemented within the prison, Tren de Aragua began expanding its influence. It started with the nearby San Vicente neighborhood, where it established strict social control and even received resources and support from the government via its charitable wing known as “Fundación Somos El Barrio JK.”

Some criminal gangs already operating in Aragua established non-aggression pacts with the gang, among them Tren del Llano. However, after Tren del Llano’s leader was killed in 2016, Tren de Aragua took over its territories in Aragua and part of Guárico state, according to police sources who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of their safety.

In the years that followed, the gang expanded its network to other states in Venezuela through alliances with smaller gangs, eventually building a presence in at least five other states. During this process, it expanded its criminal portfolio in Venezuela to include extortion, kidnapping, human trafficking for sexual exploitation, migrant smuggling, contraband, illegal mining, retail drug trafficking, cybercrime, and theft.

Tren de Aragua’s expansion turned transnational around 2018, when the gang attempted to establish itself on the Venezuela-Colombia border between the Venezuelan state of Táchira and the Colombian department of Norte de Santander. There, it clashed with major Colombian criminal groups, including the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional – ELN) and the Gaitanistas (Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia – AGC). The groups fought for control of clandestine border crossings, known as trochas, which are home to a variety of criminal economies, including the smuggling of drugs, contraband, and migrants.

Tren de Aragua carved out a niche for itself in the Colombian border town of La Parada, where many Venezuelan migrants fleeing their country first arrive in Colombia. At this point, the Venezuelan exodus was in full swing, and Tren de Aragua saw an opportunity in the desperation of its compatriots. While larger Colombian groups focused on drug trafficking, Tren de Aragua began to exploit Venezuelan migrants systematically, charging them extortion fees, smuggling them into and throughout Colombia, and taking control of various nodes of the human trafficking for sexual exploitation market.

Between 2018 and 2023, Tren de Aragua built a transnational criminal network, setting up cells in Colombia, Peru, and Chile, with further reports of a sporadic presence in Ecuador, Bolivia, and Brazil.

The group expanded following Venezuelan migration flows, initially staying under the radar by only targeting Venezuelan migrants as it increased its presence in border crossings and urban areas where Venezuelan migrants congregate.

As cells became more established, they moved into local criminal economies, employing eye-catching, targeted violence to force out local gangs and establish themselves as a serious threat. In addition to extortion and migrant smuggling, Tren de Aragua cells abroad control loan sharking (also referred to as gota a gota, or “drop by drop”), retail drug trafficking, kidnapping, small-scale international drug trafficking, human trafficking, and robberies. Each cell specializes in different activities, based on local conditions.

However, as the gang’s use of violence abroad has rung regional alarm bells, authorities across South America now have Tren de Aragua firmly in their crosshairs. Venezuela’s government finally retook control of Tocorón in September 2023, depriving the gang of its historic stronghold, while security forces in Chile, Peru, and Colombia have carried out “mega-operations” targeting the gang since 2022.

Leadership

The head of the gang is Héctor Rustherford Guerrero Flores, alias “Niño Guerrero,” who led the group from Tocorón prison until September 2023. He escaped before the operation, with Venezuelan civil society reporting that he was warned ahead of time. His location remains unknown.

Guerrero started his criminal career in 2005, when he murdered a police officer in Aragua, according to records from Venezuela’s Supreme Court of Justice. He was first imprisoned in Tocorón in 2010 but escaped two years later. 

His recapture and return to Tocorón in 2013 led Guerrero to consolidate Tren de Aragua alongside other criminals, who became his most trusted lieutenants. These included Larry Amaury Álvarez, alias “Larry Changa,” and Yohan José Guerrero, alias “Johan Petrica.”

Álvarez escaped Tocorón in 2015 and migrated to Chile in 2018, where he led the expansion of the Tren de Aragua’s faction there. In 2022, as the Chilean police began to investigate him, he fled to Colombia, from where he continued leading the faction’s operations in Chile and planned the group’s expansion in Colombia. Álvarez was arrested in July 2024 in the Colombian department of Quindío. 

For his part, Johan Petrica has been accused of leading a powerful illegal gold mining gang in Las Claritas, in the south of Bolívar state, known as the Las Claritas Sindicato. Some reports suggest that Niño Guerrero may be hiding with Petrica in Las Claritas following the invasion of Tocorón.

Along with offering rewards for information leading to the capture of Niño Guerrero and Johan Petrica, the US State Department offered a $3 million reward for information regarding Giovanny San Vicente, alias “Giovanny” or “El Viejo,” in July 2024, and named him as one of the group’s three leaders. US intelligence officials believe both Niño Guerrero and Giovanny are hiding out in Colombia.

Reports from security forces in Peru, Chile, and Colombia suggest that despite the geographic spread of the gang, it has maintained a hierarchical structure, with Niño Guerrero calling the shots. Judicial documents show how several Tren de Aragua lieutenants have been dispatched to cells across the region, some of whom even appear to rotate between cells in multiple countries.

Geography

Tren de Aragua’s operations center was previously located in Tocorón prison, in the state of Aragua. The gang is also present in at least five other Venezuelan states: Carabobo, Sucre, Bolívar, Guárico, and Lara.

It remains unclear where the group’s new nucleus will be following the September 2023 invasion of Tocorón. However, there is no indication that the gang has stopped operating in Venezuela.

Outside of Venezuela, Tren de Aragua has established permanent cells in Colombia, Peru, and Chile, with reports of its activities in Brazil, Ecuador, and Bolivia. 

These activities are often concentrated in border areas with clandestine border crossings regularly used by Venezuelan migrants, such as the Venezuela-Colombia border between Táchira and Norte de Santander, the Peru-Chile border, and the Bolivia-Chile border. The gang has also established cells in urban zones with large Venezuelan migrant populations, including Bogotá, Colombia; Lima, Peru; and Santiago, Chile.

Allies and Enemies

Tren de Aragua maintains numerous links with organized crime and prison-based groups, both in Venezuela and in other countries, with which it has established pacts of non-aggression and even alliances to share criminal income. One such prison gang was located in the Trujillo Judicial Confinement Center, dominated by Álvaro Enrique Montilla Briceño, alias “El Loro.” This prison was taken over by security forces just over a month after officials stormed Tocorón.

In addition, Tren de Aragua allegedly recruited and financed a small criminal gang in Lara state, called the “El Santanita” gang, to commit kidnappings and extortion.

A 2021 report from Brazil stated that Tren de Aragua members had been jailed in the northern state of Roraima, near Venezuela, and were working with Brazil’s largest criminal group, the First Capital Command (Primeiro Comando da Capital – PCC), claims repeated by a 2022 academic investigation, although the exact nature of this relationship remains unclear.

Tren de Aragua has clashed with multiple groups, including the ELN, for control of border crossings between Venezuela and Colombia.  Local officials and security forces across the region have highlighted the gang’s willingness to use targeted violence to force out local gangs.

The gang’s relationship with Venezuelan security forces and government officials has been complex. On the one hand, multiple sources interviewed by InSight Crime have pointed out that the group has corrupted local and regional officials. Its growth was also driven by the state’s unofficial devolution of power to the pranes and the impunity it enjoyed within Tocorón. Even following the government invasion of Tocorón, its relationship with officials remains murky. It has lost its stronghold, but appears to have received advanced warning, and no high-ranking gang members were captured.

Prospects

Tren de Aragua’s expansion across South America was the first time a Venezuelan gang managed to project itself internationally. It has become a threat to regional security, and dismantling it will not be easy.

However, its international spread appears to have slowed, and the loss of its operational base in Tocorón prison could disrupt its transnational operations. What’s more, security forces across the region are pumping resources into targeting the gang’s cells, with over 100 alleged members arrested in 2022 and 2023 by Peruvian, Chilean, and Colombian officials. These arrests, while weakening the gang outside of prison, have the potential to bring the group back to its roots and spread through foreign prisons.

The mass migration that allowed for Tren de Aragua’s expansion is also slowing and evolving. There was little criminal infrastructure in South America prepared for the number of Venezuelan migrants who traveled across the continent between 2018 and 2022, allowing Tren de Aragua to step in and claim the lion’s share of the profits.

Now, however, Venezuelans are increasingly traveling north to the United States, crossing through Colombia and Central America. This is decreasing the migrant-centered income in Tren de Aragua’s existing territory. With human smuggling and trafficking along the northern route already controlled by powerful gangs, Tren de Aragua is not likely to be able to expand north as easily as it did in South America.

Reports of new cells continue to surface in South America, although officials suggest that many of these are copycat groups seeking to take advantage of Tren de Aragua’s notoriety. It remains to be seen whether Tren de Aragua will maintain its existing network, continue to grow, or if it will fall into decline.

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Deforestation in Colombia has fallen to its lowest levels in 23 years, suggesting the government’s fight against environmental crime has yielded results. But criminal groups could also play a role in the decrease in destruction.

Colombia’s Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development Susana Muhammad announced on July 8 a 36% reduction in deforestation in 2023 compared to the previous year.  The number of deforested hectares fell from 123,517 hectares in 2022 to 79,256 hectares last year, according to a government report.

SEE ALSO: GameChangers 2023: A Win Against Deforestation in the Amazon, For Now

The study was conducted with the Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (Instituto de Hidrología, Meteorología y Estudios Ambientales – IDEAM), which is charged with producing technical and scientific knowledge about natural resources in Colombia. The departments most affected by this phenomenon were Caquetá (12,647 hectares), Guaviare (11,467 hectares), Putumayo (10,852 hectares), Meta (10,310 hectares) and Antioquia (8,139 hectares), all located in Colombia’s Amazon region, with the exception of Antioquia. 

The main drivers of deforestation were land grabbing, extensive cattle ranching, illegal roads, illicit crops, illegal mining and logging, and the expansion of agricultural lands beyond their legal limits.

The figures are the lowest in 23 years, making it an “iconic year in the fight against deforestation,” Muhammad said.

“We are meeting and exceeding our targets. We have identified that there is a direct association between peace and deforestation. Peaceful conditions generate reduction,” she added.

InSight Crime Analysis

Although the 2023 figure reverses several years of high levels of deforestation, it is important to note the role criminal organizations play in the fluctuation of this criminal activity.

Just a year after the signing of a peace agreement in 2016 between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – FARC) and the government, Colombia experienced one of the highest deforestation rates in the last 10 years. In 2017, the country reached its highest peak in a decade, with 219,552 hectares deforested as a result of the FARC’s departure from woodlands it had imposed strict control over.

Although deforestation dropped between 2018 and 2019 (to 197,159 hectares and 158,894 hectares respectively), it rose again between 2020 and 2021 as groups that rejected the peace agreement, known as ex-FARC mafia, got more involved in criminal economies such as illegal logging and mining. That was on top of an end to the restrictions on deforestation that their predecessors the FARC had imposed. 

SEE ALSO: Five Security Challenges for Gustavo Petro, Colombia’s Next President

In 2022, the trend changed again. Prior to Gustavo Petro’s victory in the presidential elections, the Central General Staff (Estado Mayor Central – EMC), a confederation of ex-FARC dissident structures with a significant presence in the Amazon, adopted a policy of reducing logging in its areas of control, which reportedly had a positive effect on deforestation.

This rule was maintained through 2023, and it is possible that the EMC used it as a bargaining chip during negotiations with the Petro government. 

However, the emergence of divisions within the group, paired with the withdrawal of several dissident factions from peace negotiations with the government, puts the issue of armed groups and their relationship with the forest back on the table, especially those with control in the Amazon region and that could embrace illegal logging and other destructive criminal markets again. 

In that sense, the community-based approach that the government has prioritized with respect to the fight against environmental crime might not be enough to stop the armed groups from embracing deforestation as a business opportunity. 

“It’s impossible to enter some of the areas where deforestation is concentrated. So it’s very difficult for the government to implement conservation plans there,” said Juan Carlos Sandino, a conservation expert.

“Deforestation reduction programs and payment for environmental services are great, but they don’t attack the big loggers. The timber business has never stopped and never will because it’s so lucrative.”

The post Colombia’s Historic Drop in Deforestation Could Be Linked to Criminal Groups appeared first on InSight Crime.

The recent US designation of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua as a transnational criminal organization puts the group on par with major security threats in Latin America and presents a new challenge to its so-far unstoppable regional expansion.

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced on July 11 that it had placed Tren de Aragua on its list of transnational criminal organizations that threaten the stability of security in the Western Hemisphere.

“Today’s designation of Tren de Aragua as a significant Transnational Criminal Organization underscores the escalating threat it poses to American communities,” said Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson.

SEE ALSO: Is Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua ‘Invading’ the US?

The US State Department, together with the Colombian National Police, also announced rewards for information leading to the arrest of the main leaders and key figures of the Venezuelan gang. Up to $5 million is being offered for information leading to Hector Guerrero Flores, alias “Niño Guerrero“; up to $4 million for Yohan Jose Romero, known as “Johan Petrica“; and up to $3 million for Giovanny San Vicente, alias “Giovanny” or “El Viejo.”

The move by US authorities against Tren de Aragua and its leadership comes after Republican senators in March this year sent a request to President Joe Biden seeking the designation, despite the fact that the group appears to have a minimal and limited presence in the United States.

“If left unchecked, they will unleash an unprecedented reign of terror, mirroring the devastation it has already inflicted in communities throughout Central and South America, most prominently in Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru,” the lawmakers emphasized.

Tren de Aragua began as a prison gang within the walls of the Tocorón prison, in the state of Aragua in central Venezuela. From there, it built a center of operations that allowed it to expand, first nationally and then to other parts of Latin America.

Its regional growth coincided with the massive exodus of some 8 million Venezuelans who have sought refuge in different countries in the region, including the United States. The first official reports of the group’s growing international presence emerged in Colombia in 2018, a country that shares a border with Venezuela and is the first stop for most migrants.

InSight Crime Analysis

While Tren de Aragua’s new categorization positions it among the top security threats in the region, this new status also represents a strategic challenge for its leaders. They will need to adapt their expansion plans to a new and unprecedented level of scrutiny for the group.

The international growth of different factions of Tren de Aragua in Latin America over the last six years is one of the most remarkable criminal developments in recent times. From the walls of Tocorón, it went on to have a presence and illicit activities in countries including Colombia, Ecuador, Chile, Peru, and Bolivia, where its factions have managed to make inroads and dominate important criminal economies such as migrant smuggling, human trafficking, extortion, and small-scale drug trafficking.

In its first exploratory steps in the region, Tren de Aragua adopted a low profile and took advantage of migrant communities to go unnoticed. Likewise, a lack of knowledge on the part of local authorities facilitated its unfettered expansion across borders.

An example of the low profile of one of its leaders is Larry Álvarez Núñez, alias “Larry Changa,” who is considered the co-founder and a top leader of Tren de Aragua. In 2018, he managed to enter Chile through the airport with legal documents and without being subjected to any investigation by the authorities.

“When Tren de Aragua arrived in Chile it had a very low profile. … Larry Changa arrived here and set up a couple of businesses, bought a couple of vehicles, rented a couple of apartments without raising major suspicions,” Ignacio Castillo, the director of the organized crime unit of Chile’s Attorney General’s Office (Unidad Especializada en Crimen Organizado del Ministerio Público de Chile), told InSight Crime.

After being identified in 2022 by Chile’s security forces as one of the main leaders of Tren de Aragua, Changa fled to Colombia where he was captured by local authorities in early July 2024.

SEE ALSO: Three Stages in the Construction of Tren de Aragua’s Transnational Empire

With the new designation from the US Treasury Department, Tren de Aragua joins the list of the most notorious criminal organizations in Latin America and the world. The low profile it once maintained no longer exists to help it enter new countries under the radar. 

One of the groups that went through a similar process was the Mara Salvatrucha (MS13), which was the first street gang designated as a transnational criminal organization in October 2012 by the US Treasury Department, mainly due to its violence in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, as well as its participation in a number of transnational criminal economies.

The designation cast a spotlight on the main leaders of the MS13, leading several of them to confront extradition requests and trials in the US justice system, which now promises to be the new scenario for the main leaders of Tren de Aragua.

Featured image: Posters signaling Tren de Aragua’s main leaders are shown during a press conference. Credit: Colombia’s National Police.

The post US Labels Tren de Aragua a Transnational Criminal Threat appeared first on InSight Crime.

Operation Trueno began on the night of April 20, 2022, when around 800 police and military officials traveling in 30 cars and 10 armored vehicles descended on the municipality of Altagracia de Orituco in the state of Guárico.

This story is part of an investigation produced by InSight Crime and the Venezuelan human rights organization Defiende Venezuela that exposes the abuses of the Venezuelan security forces and tells the stories of their victims. Explore these stories and the full human rights report here.

The security forces set up checkpoints throughout town, where they arrested people on spurious charges – or demanded bribes not to. They harassed and extorted local businesses, demanding goods and services with threats.

The officials set up their bases of operations in a local hotel and in houses and ranches seized from people under investigation. There, they brought in sex workers and threw parties that lasted until the early hours of the morning. And they held and tortured detainees.

They were ostensibly going after Tren del Llano, and they drew up a list of targets, but few names were actual members of the criminal group. Instead, they targeted people with familial or social connections to gang members, people who had unwittingly aided or been forced to collaborate with the gang – including their extortion victims – and anyone with a criminal history or who lived in a poor neighborhood.

Units of up to 30 officials, usually with their faces covered and identifications obscured, staged raids of the houses of those on the lists. They had no arrest or search warrants, instead telling people they were acting on a “presidential order.”

The officials often broke down the doors as they entered, then physically and verbally abused whoever they found inside. They hit them, beat them with their guns, tied them up, and threatened to kill them.

In the raids and after, the officials stole everything they could find – cash, cell phones, electronic devices, clothing, and vehicles. They even took food, and on some occasions, cooked up meals for themselves during the raids.

Those detained faced cruel and degrading treatment, suffering physical and mental abuse. Some were taken to clandestine torture centers.

Some of the women detained were subjected to sexual violence and humiliation.

The detentions were justified with falsified arrest reports and planted evidence, in most cases involving munitions they claimed to have found. Some detainees were forced to give false testimonies.

In some cases, officials demanded bribes running into the thousands of dollars to free the detainees, or to carry out transfers to court hearings or detention centers.

Most of those taken were held in jails in Caracas, four hours from Guárico. They had to pay bribes to get even basic services in the prisons. Their families were expected to provide them with food, but had to bribe officials to be able to visit or even communicate with their loved ones.

Most detainees were hauled in front of anti-terrorism courts. They were not allowed to have their own lawyers, and were instead forcibly represented by public defenders, some of whom demanded money to provide families with information about the cases.

While some victims were released after a few days, others remain incarcerated in inhumane conditions, held in overcrowded facilities without proper food or medical care. Some have been threatened by Tren del Llano as the gang believes the victims have informed on them to get judicial benefits.

When Terror Swept Through Guárico, Venezuela

This story is part of an investigation produced by InSight Crime and the Venezuelan human rights organization Defiende Venezuela that exposes the abuses of the Venezuelan security forces and tells the stories of their victims. Explore these stories and the full human rights report here.

Explore the series

Operation Trueno began on the night of April 20, 2022, when around 800 police and military officials traveling in 30 cars and 10 armored vehicles descended on the municipality of Altagracia de Orituco in the state of Guárico.

This story is part of an investigation produced by InSight Crime and the Venezuelan human rights organization Defiende Venezuela that exposes the abuses of the Venezuelan security forces and tells the stories of their victims. Explore these stories and the full human rights report here

Scroll to continue

The security forces set up checkpoints throughout town, where they arrested people on spurious charges – or demanded bribes not to. They harassed and extorted local businesses, demanding goods and services with threats.

The officials set up their bases of operations in a local hotel and in houses and ranches seized from people under investigation. There, they brought in sex workers and threw parties that lasted until the early hours of the morning. And they held and tortured detainees.

They were ostensibly going after Tren del Llano, and they drew up a list of targets, but few names were actual members of the criminal group. Instead, they targeted people with familial or social connections to gang members, people who had unwittingly aided or been forced to collaborate with the gang – including their extortion victims – and anyone with a criminal history or who lived in a poor neighborhood.

Units of up to 30 officials, usually with their faces covered and identifications obscured, staged raids of the houses of those on the lists. They had no arrest or search warrants, instead telling people they were acting on a “presidential order.”

The officials often broke down the doors as they entered, then physically and verbally abused whoever they found inside. They hit them, beat them with their guns, tied them up, and threatened to kill them.

In the raids and after, the officials stole everything they could find – cash, cell phones, electronic devices, clothing, and vehicles. They even took food and, on some occasions, cooked up meals for themselves during the raids.

Those detained faced cruel and degrading treatment, suffering physical and mental abuse. Some were taken to clandestine torture centers.

Some of the women detained were subjected to sexual violence and humiliation.

The detentions were justified with falsified arrest reports and planted evidence, in most cases involving munitions they claimed to have found. Some detainees were forced to give false testimonies.

In some cases, officials demanded bribes running into the thousands of dollars to free the detainees, or to carry out transfers to court hearings or detention centers.

Most of those taken were held in jails in Caracas, four hours from Guárico. They had to pay bribes to get even basic services in the prisons. Their families were expected to provide them with food, but had to bribe officials to be able to visit or even communicate with their loved ones.

Most detainees were hauled in front of anti-terrorism courts. They were not allowed to have their own lawyers, and were instead forcibly represented by public defenders, some of whom demanded money to provide families with information about the cases.

While some victims were released after a few days, others remain incarcerated in inhumane conditions, held in overcrowded facilities without proper food or medical care. Some have been threatened by Tren del Llano as the gang believes the victims have informed on them to get judicial benefits.

When Terror Swept Through Guárico, Venezuela

This story is part of an investigation produced by InSight Crime and the Venezuelan human rights organization Defiende Venezuela that exposes the abuses of the Venezuelan security forces and tells the stories of their victims. Explore these stories and the full human rights report here.

Explore the series

Read the Stories

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Human Rights Abuses During ‘Operation Trueno’

Read Defiende Venezuela’s full report documenting 34 cases of abuses and human rights violations committed by the security forces during Operation Trueno.

Download the full report (PDF)

Tren del llano profile

Read InSight Crime’s profile of the gang that was the declared target of Operation Trueno.

Tren del Llano

The post The Operation appeared first on InSight Crime.

Antonio and Sandra live in Altagracia de Orituco with their two grandchildren, aged 7 and 1. One of the children is the son of their daughter Andrea, who emigrated from Venezuela, and a Tren del Llano member she had a relationship with. At the time of Operation Trueno, their son Jorge, an off-duty National Guard  official, was visiting.

This story is part of an investigation produced by InSight Crime and the Venezuelan human rights organization Defiende Venezuela that exposes the abuses of the Venezuelan security forces and tells the stories of their victims. Explore these stories and the full human rights report here

It was about 10:30 p.m., when around 18 police officers, their faces covered, surrounded Antonio and Sandra’s house then burst through the door.

They threw Antonio to the floor and grabbed Sandra by the hair then dragged her to the patio, screaming insults at her.

The officers demanded to know about their daughter Andrea and her relationship with the now-dead Tren del Llano member.

One officer asked Jorge if he had any problems with the law. When he replied that he had left all that behind, the official pointed his rifle at him.

Officials told Sandra and Jorge as they arrested them that they were acting on a presidential order. Before they left, they stole everything of value they could find, including cash, their identifications, bank cards, and even Jorge’s clothes and his motorcycle.

Antonio spent five days trawling around different police stations trying to find where his loved ones had been taken. When he finally found out where they were being held, an official told him he should bring them food, as they had not eaten since the arrest.

Antonio was told Sandra and Jorge were to be transferred to Caracas, but he would have to pay $200 to cover the costs, otherwise they would be left to rot in their cells. He sold what few possessions he had and took out a loan to raise the money.

They were charged with criminal association, arms trafficking, and terrorism. While Jorge denied the charges, Sandra admitted criminal association in exchange for a 5-year sentence she believed would be commuted. But the judge assessing her case demanded $3,000 to free her. When she couldn’t pay, she was sent back to jail.

Six months after the arrests, Antonio and Sandra’s daughter Andrea returned to Venezuela to see her detained family. She was intercepted by police on motorcycles outside a subway station in Caracas. They pointed their weapons and one shouted at her…

Police officers questioned Andrea on her relationship with the gang member, and threatened to plant drugs on her. They then told her she could “resolve” her situation by paying them $3,000.

Andrea told them she could pay them $1,000. She had $700 in savings and said she would go back to Altagracia de Orituco to find the rest.

Once she was freed, Andrea began receiving threatening calls from police officials, who told her they would plant drugs on her and arrest her if she did not pay up.

In August 2023, police again raided the family home demanding to know the whereabouts of Tren del Llano members. Sandra and Jorge, meanwhile, remain in prison.

In July 2023, Antonio, with the help of the Defiende Venezuela legal team, filed a complaint with the Registration Unit of the General Secretariat Directorate of the Public Ministry demanding justice for the violations of the rights of his daughter Andrea. To date, no action has been taken in the case.

The Castillo family are among the thousands of victims of security forces abuses documented in Venezuela by human rights organizations.

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When Terror Swept Through Guárico, Venezuela

This story is part of an investigation produced by InSight Crime and the Venezuelan human rights organization Defiende Venezuela that exposes the abuses of the Venezuelan security forces and tells the stories of their victims. Explore these stories and the full human rights report here.

Explore the series

Antonio and Sandra live in Altagracia de Orituco with their two grandchildren, aged 7 and 1. One of the children is the son of their daughter Andrea, who emigrated from Venezuela, and a Tren del Llano member she had been in a relationship with. At the time of Operation Trueno, their son Jorge, an off-duty National Guard  official, was visiting.

This story is part of an investigation produced by InSight Crime and the Venezuelan human rights organization Defiende Venezuela that exposes the abuses of the Venezuelan security forces and tells the stories of their victims. Explore these stories and the full human rights report here

Scroll to continue

It was about 10:30 p.m, when around 18 police officers, their faces covered, surrounded Antonio and Sandra’s house then burst through the door.

They threw Antonio to the floor and grabbed Sandra by the hair then dragged her to the patio, screaming insults at her.

The officers demanded to know about their daughter Andrea and her relationship with the now-dead Tren del Llano member.

One officer asked Jorge if he had any problems with the law. When he replied that he had left all that behind, the official pointed his rifle at him.

Officials told Sandra and Jorge they were acting on a presidential order as they arrested them. Before they left, they stole everything of value they could find, including cash, their identifications, bank cards, and even Jorge’s clothes and his motorcycle.

Antonio spent five days trawling around different police stations trying to find where his loved ones had been taken. When he finally found out where they were being held, an official told him he should bring them food, as they had not eaten since the arrest.

Antonio was told Sandra and Jorge were to be transferred to Caracas, but he would have to pay $200 to cover the costs, otherwise they would be left to rot in their cells. He sold what few possessions he had and took out a loan to raise the money.

They were charged with criminal association, arms trafficking, and terrorism. While Jorge denied the charges, Sandra admitted criminal association in exchange for a 5-year sentence she believed would be commuted. But the judge assessing her case demanded $3,000 to free her. When she couldn’t pay, she was sent back to jail.

Six months after the arrests, Antonio and Sandra’s daughter Andrea returned to Venezuela to see her detained family. She was intercepted by police on motorcycles outside a subway station in Caracas. They pointed their weapons and one shouted at her…

Police officers questioned Andrea on her relationship with the gang member, and threatened to plant drugs on her. They then told her she could “resolve” her situation by paying them $3,000.

Andrea told them she could pay them $1,000. She had $700 in savings and said she would go back to Altagracia de Orituco to find the rest.

Once she was freed, Andrea began receiving threatening calls from police officials, who told her they would plant drugs on her and arrest her if she did not pay up.

In August 2023, police again raided the family home demanding to know the whereabouts of Tren del Llano members. Sandra and Jorge, meanwhile, remain in prison.

In July 2023, Antonio, with the help of the Defiende Venezuela legal team, filed a complaint with the Registration Unit of the General Secretariat Directorate of the Public Ministry demanding justice for the violations of the rights of his daughter Andrea. To date, no action has been taken in the case.

The Castillo family are among the thousands of victims of security forces abuses documented in Venezuela by human rights organizations.

When Terror Swept Through Guárico, Venezuela

This story is part of an investigation produced by InSight Crime and the Venezuelan human rights organization Defiende Venezuela that exposes the abuses of the Venezuelan security forces and tells the stories of their victims. Explore these stories and the full human rights report here.

Explore the series

The post The Castillo Family appeared first on InSight Crime.

Andrés is a proud Chavista, and member of the government-run Bolivarian Militias. He and his wife live next door to their nieces Carmen, Liliana, and Lucía as well as their 10 children in one of the poorer neighborhoods of Altagracia de Orituco. All of them eke out a living in the informal sector, selling vegetables, candy, cigarettes, and coffee on the streets.

This story is part of an investigation produced by InSight Crime and the Venezuelan human rights organization Defiende Venezuela that exposes the abuses of the Venezuelan security forces and tells the stories of their victims. Explore these stories and the full human rights report here.

It was 6:00 a.m., and there was a banging on the door of the Fernández family home. When Andrés opened the door, police officials pushed their way in, threw him to the floor, and pointed their weapons at him.

Andrés was taken to the police station, where officers beat him in a corridor and discussed handing him off to the national intelligence service, the SEBIN. “Don’t kill him here. Take him to the SEBIN. No one will hear you there,” … he heard one say.

The officers took him to a SEBIN site, where they interrogated him about the gang presence in his neighborhood. They placed a plastic bag over his head to asphyxiate him. When he bit a hole in the bag to breathe, they used it to fill the bag up with water.

They placed cables either side of his head to administer electric shocks, and officials took turns beating him, asking him over and again if he knew the “malandros” – the gangsters.

The raids on the neighborhood continued, as the police seemed convinced residents would know gang members simply because they lived in a poor area. A week after Andrés’s arrest, around 20 police vehicles filled with heavily armed officers returned to their street.

Andrés’ nieces, Carmen and Liliana, who lived next door, ran inside the house with their infirm grandmother and ten children. The officers followed them inside, shouting insults and accusing them of selling drugs. They commandeered a bedroom to search all the women one by one.

Liliana entered the room carrying her 4-year-old daughter, who has learning disabilities and a heart condition, and who had fainted when the police arrived. “Put her down!” they screamed, and she was forced to lay her child on the bed, still unconscious.

The all-male officers beat her with a pistol then forced her to take her clothes off.

They forced her to open her legs and looked in her vagina and anus. After finding nothing, they began to say she was hiding drugs inside her and began to prod and poke her stomach.

Carmen was next. The officers said they would kill her if she didn’t take her clothes off and keep quiet. Again, they checked her vagina and anus, and when they found nothing, they dragged her out by her hair and threw her into the next room.

Their sister Lucía had been showering when the police arrived, and they forced her to drop her towel, leaving her naked. They carried out the same checks, while pointing a pistol at her and making lewd gestures.

After all the women had been searched, they lined them up against the wall, pointed a gun at them and threatened to kill them while shouting abuse.

They found Andrés in the kitchen next door, and beat him over the head and in the ribs with a shotgun. But for him there was no strip search.

After around two hours, the officers left, taking with them all the cash they could find, as well as the merchandise the sisters sold on the streets. Before they went, they told the family, “We are the FAES, and we have a presidential order. We can do whatever we want.”

On July 10, 2023, the family, with the help of the Defiende Venezuela legal team, filed a complaint about the abuses and rights violations they suffered with the Registration Unit of the General Secretariat Directorate of the Public Ministry. To date, no investigation has been carried out. In January 2024, Carmen reported to Defiende Venezuela that she had been arrested again after officers planted drugs on her, and had suffered further sexual abuse. She was released ahead of sentencing on the condition that she report to the court every 20 days.

The Fernández family are among the thousands of victims of security forces abuses documented in Venezuela by human rights organizations.

If you value this work, please consider making a donation.

We want to continue working with local partners to expose crime and corruption and to tell compelling stories. In order to do that we need your support. You can make a single donation or become a regular donor if you wish to support our work.

One-time Monthly Annually

One-time

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$15

$50

Other Donation amount

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Monthly

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Other Donation amount

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Annually

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$25

$100

Other Donation amount

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Your contribution is appreciated.

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When Terror Swept Through Guárico, Venezuela

This story is part of an investigation produced by InSight Crime and the Venezuelan human rights organization Defiende Venezuela that exposes the abuses of the Venezuelan security forces and tells the stories of their victims. Explore these stories and the full human rights report here.

Explore the series

Andrés is a proud Chavista, and member of the government-run Bolivarian Militias. He and his wife live next door to their nieces Carmen, Liliana, and Lucía and their ten children in one of the poorer neighborhoods of Altagracia de Orituco. All of them eke out a living in the informal sector, selling vegetables, candy, cigarettes, and coffee on the streets.

This story is part of an investigation produced by InSight Crime and the Venezuelan human rights organization Defiende Venezuela that exposes the abuses of the Venezuelan security forces and tells the stories of their victims. Explore these stories and the full human rights report here

Scroll to continue

It was 6:00 a.m., and there was a banging on the door of the Fernández family home. When Andrés opened the door, police officials pushed their way in, threw him to the floor, and pointed their weapons at him.

Andrés was taken to the police station, where officers beat him in a corridor and discussed handing him off to the national intelligence service, the SEBIN.

“Don’t kill him here. Take him to the SEBIN. No one will hear you there,”

… he heard one say.

The officers took him to a SEBIN site, where they interrogated him about the gang presence in his neighborhood. They placed a plastic bag over his head to asphyxiate him. When he bit a hole in the bag to breathe, they used it to fill the bag up with water.

They placed cables either side of his head to administer electric shocks, and officials took turns beating him, asking him over and again if he knew the “malandros” – the gangsters.

The raids on the neighborhood continued, as the police seemed convinced residents would know gang members simply because they lived in a poor area. A week after Andrés’s arrest, around 20 police vehicles filled with heavily armed officers returned to their street.

Andrés’ nieces, Carmen and Liliana, who lived next door, ran inside the house with their infirm grandmother and ten children. The officers followed them inside, shouting insults and accusing them of selling drugs. They commandeered a bedroom to search all the women one by one.

Liliana entered the room carrying her 4-year-old daughter, who has learning disabilities and a heart condition, and who had fainted when the police arrived. “Put her down!” they screamed, and she was forced to lay her child on the bed, still unconscious.

The all-male officers beat her with a pistol then forced her to take her clothes off.

They forced her to open her legs and looked in her vagina and anus. After finding nothing, they began to say she was hiding drugs inside her and began to prod and poke her stomach.

Carmen was next. The officers said they would kill her if she didn’t take her clothes off and keep quiet. Again, they checked her vagina and anus, and when they found nothing, they dragged her out by her hair and threw her into the next room.

Their sister Lucía had been showering when the police arrived, and they forced her to drop her towel, leaving her naked. They carried out the same checks, while pointing a pistol at her and making lewd gestures.

After all the women had been searched, they lined them up against the wall, pointed a gun at them and threatened to kill them while shouting abuse.

They found Andrés in the kitchen next door, and beat him over the head and in the ribs with a shotgun. But for him there was no strip search.

After around two hours, the officers left, taking with them all the cash they could find, as well as the merchandise the sisters sold on the streets. Before they went, they told the family.

On July 10, 2023, the family, with the help of the Defiende Venezuela legal team, filed a complaint about the abuses and rights violations they suffered with the Registration Unit of the General Secretariat Directorate of the Public Ministry. To date, no investigation has been carried out. In January 2024, Carmen reported to Defiende Venezuela that she had been arrested again after officers planted drugs on her, and had suffered further sexual abuse. She was released ahead of sentencing on the condition that she report to the court every 20 days.

The Fernández family are among the thousands of victims of security forces abuses documented in Venezuela by human rights organizations.

When Terror Swept Through Guárico, Venezuela

This story is part of an investigation produced by InSight Crime and the Venezuelan human rights organization Defiende Venezuela that exposes the abuses of the Venezuelan security forces and tells the stories of their victims. Explore these stories and the full human rights report here.

Explore the series

The post The Fernández Family appeared first on InSight Crime.

Carlos is a musician and farm laborer from Altagracia de Orituco. He left to go live in Caracas, but he was in town visiting his family when Operation Trueno began.

This story is part of an investigation produced by InSight Crime and the Venezuelan human rights organization Defiende Venezuela that exposes the abuses of the Venezuelan security forces and tells the stories of their victims. Explore these stories and the full human rights report here.

Carlos was out when the police came looking for him at his mother’s house. Officers told his relatives they were there to kill him, and they arrested his sister and mother.

He waited until night then fled Altagracia de Orituco. He walked to the town of Taguay, then caught a bus to Caracas.

Carlos was waiting for a bus to take him to the Colombian border when he was arrested at the bus station in Caracas, even though the officials had no warrant.

The police officers put a hood over Carlos’ head and bundled him into a car. They took him to a beach, where they held his head under water while interrogating him about Tren del Llano. He told them he had nothing to do with the gang.

The police took Carlos to a large house on the outskirts of Caracas, where they tortured him in the basement. The officers hung him from the ceiling by a rope attached to handcuffs behind his back. 

Officers swung him around by pliers jammed into his nose. They used a severed cable to apply electric shocks to his testicles. They suffocated him by placing a hood laced with insecticide over his head. And they pushed a pistol into his ribs and threatened to kill him.

After applying makeup to cover his wounds, the police officers filmed Carlos’ “confession.” They demanded he denounce a wealthy local rancher he had worked for as a Tren del Llano collaborator.

After the torture sessions, Carlos was bound and gagged and chained to the base of a bed. He slept on the floor while the shift guard slept on the bed.

The national police chief announced Carlos’ arrest, labeling him a “highly dangerous member of the Tren del Llano gang.” Only then did his family understand Carlos had been arrested.

Without being able to communicate with his family or a trusted lawyer, Carlos was taken to a court late at night five days after his arrest. He was brought before a specialist terrorism judge and charged with arms trafficking, financing terrorism, and criminal conspiracy. 

Carlos was placed in pretrial detention and moved to a police jail in Caracas, where he was placed in a cell with 81 other people. There, he received a message from Tren del Llano: they knew he was cooperating with the police, so they were going to kill him.

In May 2023, Carlos’ family received a message from Carlos’ Facebook account. It contained a series of images of his case file, along with a voice message saying they would kill Carlos as soon as he was transferred to a common prison.

After multiple deferrals, Carlos’ trial finally began a year and a half after his arrest. While it is by law a public hearing, his family was often barred from entering the courtroom and made to wait outside in the street deep into the night. 

On May 6, 2022, Carlos’ brother recorded a verbal complaint with the Public Ministry’s Office of Attention to Victims in Matters of Protection of Human Rights. On June 22, he then filed a formal complaint with the ministry’s General Directorate for the Protection of Human Rights, denouncing the Carlos’ detention and torture. To date, no action has been taken in the cases.

In 2023, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued a resolution recognizing Carlos as a victim of arbitrary detention and stating it considered him to have been subjected to torture in the days following his detention.

Carlos is one of the thousands of victims of security forces abuses documented in Venezuela by human rights organizations.

If you value this work, please consider making a donation.

We want to continue working with local partners to expose crime and corruption and to tell compelling stories. In order to do that we need your support. You can make a single donation or become a regular donor if you wish to support our work.

One-time Monthly Annually

One-time

$5

$15

$50

Other Donation amount

$

Monthly

$10

$25

$100

Other Donation amount

$

Annually

$10

$25

$100

Other Donation amount

$

Your contribution is appreciated.

Donate Now

When Terror Swept Through Guárico, Venezuela

This story is part of an investigation produced by InSight Crime and the Venezuelan human rights organization Defiende Venezuela that exposes the abuses of the Venezuelan security forces and tells the stories of their victims. Explore these stories and the full human rights report here.

Explore the series

Carlos is a musician and farm laborer from Altagracia de Orituco. He left to go live in Caracas, but he was in town visiting his family when Operation Trueno began.

This story is part of an investigation produced by InSight Crime and the Venezuelan human rights organization Defiende Venezuela that exposes the abuses of the Venezuelan security forces and tells the stories of their victims. Explore these stories and the full human rights report here

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Carlos was out when the police came looking for him at his mother’s house. Officers told his relatives they were there to kill him, and they arrested his sister and mother.

He waited until night then fled Altagracia de Orituco. He walked to the town of Taguay, then caught a bus to Caracas.

Carlos was waiting for a bus to take him to the Colombian border when he was arrested at the bus station in Caracas, even though the officials had no warrant.

The police officers put a hood over Carlos’ head and bundled him into a car. They took him to a beach, where they held his head under water while interrogating him about Tren del Llano. He told them he had nothing to do with the gang.

The police took Carlos to a large house on the outskirts of Caracas, where they tortured him in the basement. The officers hung him from the ceiling by a rope attached to handcuffs behind his back. 

Officers swung him around by pliers jammed into his nose. They used a severed cable to apply electric shocks to his testicles. They suffocated him by placing a hood laced with insecticide over his head. And they pushed a pistol into his ribs and threatened to kill him.

After applying makeup to cover his wounds, the police officers filmed Carlos’ “confession.” They demanded he denounce a wealthy local rancher he had worked for as a Tren del Llano collaborator.

After the torture sessions, Carlos was bound and gagged and chained to the base of a bed. He slept on the floor while the shift guard slept on the bed.

The national police chief announced Carlos’ arrest, labeling him a “highly dangerous member of the Tren del Llano gang.” Only then did his family understand Carlos had been arrested.

Without being able to communicate with his family or a trusted lawyer, Carlos was taken to a court late at night five days after his arrest. He was brought before a specialist terrorism judge and charged with arms trafficking, financing terrorism, and criminal conspiracy. 

Carlos was placed in pretrial detention and moved to a police jail in Caracas, where he was placed in a cell with 81 other people. There, he received a message from Tren del Llano: they knew he was cooperating with the police, so they were going to kill him.

In May 2023, Carlos’ family received a message from Carlos’ Facebook account. It contained a series of images of his case file, along with a voice message saying they would kill Carlos as soon as he was transferred to a common prison.

After multiple deferrals, Carlos’ trial finally began a year and a half after his arrest. While it is by law a public hearing, his family was often barred from entering the courtroom and made to wait outside in the street deep into the night. 

On May 6, 2022, Carlos’ brother recorded a verbal complaint with the Public Ministry’s Office of Attention to Victims in Matters of Protection of Human Rights. On June 22, he then filed a formal complaint with the ministry’s General Directorate for the Protection of Human Rights, denouncing the Carlos’ detention and torture. To date, no action has been taken in the cases.

In 2023, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) issued a resolution recognizing Carlos as a victim of arbitrary detention and stating it considered him to have been subjected to torture in the days following his detention.

Carlos is one of the thousands of victims of security forces abuses documented in Venezuela by human rights organizations.

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When Terror Swept Through Guárico, Venezuela

This story is part of an investigation produced by InSight Crime and the Venezuelan human rights organization Defiende Venezuela that exposes the abuses of the Venezuelan security forces and tells the stories of their victims. Explore these stories and the full human rights report here.

Explore the series

The post Carlos Ramírez appeared first on InSight Crime.

We are thrilled to announce InSight Crime will be honored with a special citation by the Maria Moors Cabot Prize jury for outstanding reporting on the Americas.

The prestigious recognition given by the Columbia Journalism School honors journalists and news organizations for career excellence and coverage of the Western Hemisphere that furthers inter-American understanding. We are honored to be among its many illustrious recipients.

Read the full announcement here.

The post InSight Crime Will Be Honored by the Maria Moors Cabot Prize appeared first on InSight Crime.

Mexico’s navy warned of an increase in the use of less regulated chemicals for methamphetamine production this week, confirming an innovative trend emerging from the criminal organizations behind synthetic drug manufacturing.

Officials from Mexico’s Navy Secretariat (Secretaría de Marina – Semar) interviewed in the port of Manzanillo, told the La Jornada newspaper on July 6 that Mexican criminal groups are producing their own precursor chemicals to make methamphetamine, rather than importing them from abroad.

Precursor chemicals are the main ingredient in the synthetic drug production process and, in the case of Mexican methamphetamine, the most common ones are 1-phenyl-2-propanone (P2P) and methylamine.

SEE ALSO: Making Synthetic Drugs: A Primer*

To manufacture both, producers use pre-precursors and other essential chemicals such as solvents, catalysts, and binders, which are dual-use substances. These chemicals, in addition to being used for illicit purposes, are widely traded legally to supply a variety of industries, including pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals, cosmetics, food, and cleaning products.

According to Semar sources who spoke to La Jornada in the port, they have detected an increase in the importation of dual-use chemicals since around 2022. At the same time, imports of precursor chemicals have dropped.

“There are records that give us certainty that these substances are used in the manufacture of chemical precursors for illicit drugs,” a naval official told La Jornada.

The statement came just days after the seizure of 88 tons of acetic acid in Manzanillo, which sits on the Pacific coast in the state of Colima. The substance is mainly used to produce vinegar but can also be used as a pre-precursor in the production of methamphetamine.

As a result, the importation and sale of acetic acid is monitored in Mexico, which means that companies must justify their intended use to the authorities and make their supply chain transparent. According to Semar, the seizure in Manzanillo occurred after the importer failed to justify the substance’s place of origin.

InSight Crime Analysis

Semar’s recent comments are in line with InSight Crime’s research into Mexico’s precursor chemical supply chain, which found that the methamphetamine production process in Mexico has become more sophisticated.

Initially, Mexican producers used ephedrine as the main precursor for methamphetamine, but following the Mexican government’s imposition of stricter controls on the substance in 2008, they migrated to the P2P and the methylamine method. This method is complicated, according to several specialists consulted by InSight Crime, but allows for a greater diversity of chemical synthesis routes, making it easier for producers to substitute substances they don’t have access to.

SEE ALSO: How Precursor Chemicals Sustain Mexico’s Synthetic Drug Trade

Today, P2P and methylamine are strictly controlled. Mexican producers have stopped importing them from China – one of the main countries supplying the substances – and have learned to synthesize them in the same clandestine laboratories in which they make methamphetamine from pre-precursors legally marketed in Mexico. 

So far, this trend isn’t evident in fentanyl production, mainly because fentanyl pre-precursors have few legal uses. However, it’s something that could happen if producers begin to access less regulated substances from which they can synthesize pre-precursors and subsequently precursors.

*Sara García, Parker Asmann, and Beatriz Vicent contributed to the reporting for this article.

Featured image: Containers in the port of Manzanillo, Colima, México. Credit: Victoria Dittmar/InSight Crime

The post Mexico’s Meth Producers Are Making Their Own Precursors, Government Says appeared first on InSight Crime.