After a former Venezuelan military official was killed in Chile, the president of Chile promised to find and deal with the main suspects: the Venezuelan criminal group, Tren de Aragua.
In an interview with ADN on March 11, President Gabriel Boric of Chile said he would take apart Tren de Aragua, stating, “We will follow them by air, sea, and land.”
The statement was the president’s strongest direct mention of the group since it appeared in the country, and came after Chile’s Attorney General Héctor Barros accused the group of kidnapping and killing Ronald Ojeda, a former first lieutenant in Venezuela’s military.
Three Stages in the Construction of the Tren de Aragua’s Transnational Empire
On March 1, Ojeda’s body was found by police in a suitcase buried under cement in Maipú, a part of Santiago where several Tren de Aragua “torture houses” had been found before. The same day, a 17-year-old Venezuelan was arrested by police for the kidnapping and murder. Interpol notices have been issued for two other suspects believed to have escaped to Bolivia and Peru.
At least three people dressed as police officers grabbed Ojeda from his 14th floor apartment in north Santiago just after 3:00 a.m. on February 21 and forced him into a car, which was later found abandoned with the uniforms inside.
Ojeda had been in Chile since fleeing Venezuela, where he had been detained and tortured by the authorities for an alleged failed attempt to overthrow President Nicolás Maduro.
Maduro’s government expelled Ojeda from the military and criticized him multiple times in the years since, most recently in January 2024, when the Ministry of Defense claimed he had planned “criminal and terrorist actions” against the government.
Ojeda had not received any threats from organized crime groups prior to the kidnapping, but had felt he was in danger due to his status as a refugee, the lawyer of Ojeda’s wife, Juan Carlos Manríquez, told InSight Crime.
The former first lieutenant believed “the regime was hunting him,” his brother told a Chilean news site La Tercera.
While there is no evidence so far to support this, one of the suspects worked for former Venezuelan Vice President Tareck El Aissami during his time as governor of the Venezuelan state Aragua, according to official documents published by Chilean media. During El Assaimi’s tenure as governor in Tren de Aragua’s home state, the group grew in strength and received preferential treatment from the authorities.
Chile’s attorney general stated the crime may have been ordered by someone outside of Chile and has not ruled out that it may have been politically motivated.
InSight Crime Analysis
Whether or not someone from within the Venezuelan state contracted Tren de Aragua to carry out the kidnapping, the crime seems to mark a new phase in the group’s criminal evolution.
In the past, Tren de Aragua’s actions have been more basic and crude, posting videos online threatening to kill civilians in Lima, Peru, and dumping dead bodies on street corners in Bogotá, Colombia.
Tren de Aragua’s Criminal Portfolio: Adapt or Die
However, Ojeda’s kidnapping — with its use of police uniforms, and the decision to take him from his home instead of using the simpler and more commonly employed method of snatching him while he was in public — shows an unusual level of sophistication and boldness.
“Manríquez told InSight Crime that this is a significant plan. It involved six stages, a preliminary study, an extraction, support people, cars, an escape route, distraction tasks, and reports indicating the operation was underway. This suggests there is a leader involved.”
Investigators have not identified who ordered Ojeda’s kidnapping and murder. However, the level of planning suggests the kidnappers were well aware of the victim’s status and the attention the crime would attract. The lack of a ransom request also sets it apart from Tren de Aragua’s typical style of kidnapping in Venezuela and abroad.
The murder is the second time the group has been linked to a high-profile contract killing. The first was the May 2022 assassination of Paraguayan prosecutor Marcelo Pecci in Colombia. This indicates the organization is now offering this as a criminal “service.”
The organization’s expansion from Venezuela across South America began with migrant smuggling and human trafficking, but its adaptable nature and pursuit of criminal opportunities have fueled its continued growth. Its transnational cells are now involved in crimes including extortion, sexual exploitation, and small-scale drug trafficking. adaptability and pursuit of criminal opportunities have driven its continued expansion. Its transnational cells are now engaged in crimes ranging from extortion to sexual exploitation to small-scale drug trafficking.
The gang has also shown signs of attempting to influence Chile’s institutions through intimidation or corruption. Multiple judges have sought to excuse themselves from a trial against the Gallegos, with one citing a friendship with one of the accused, according to El Mostrador. The Supreme Court has now ordered the removal of any information from the judiciary’s website that could identify the judges involved in the case, presumably out of fear of potential reprisals.