Rio de Janeiro, Feb 25, (dpa/GNA) – Colombian police have arrested a senior figure in the transnational criminal group Tren de Aragua, detaining Jorge Luis Páez Cordero, known as “Cucaracho,” in the city of Santa Marta, authorities said on Tuesday.
Police said Cordero was a close associate of the network’s leader, “Niño Guerrero,” and coordinated the shipment of tons of cocaine from Colombia and Venezuela to Central America, the United States and Europe.
He was also wanted under a Red Notice from Interpol, and is accused of organizing extortion, kidnapping and money laundering operations in the Caribbean region.
A video released by investigators shows a special unit entering Cordero’s luxury home in Santa Marta, northern Colombia, and catching him asleep in his bedroom. Police also seized four mobile phones and a tablet, which are now being examined.
Tren de Aragua, which originates in Venezuela, is regarded as one of the most influential criminal networks in the region. It is linked to drug trafficking, extortion and kidnapping. Experts say the group functions more as a loose network of gangs, than as a tightly managed international cartel.
The arrest comes shortly after a major escalation of drug-related violence in Mexico. In a military operation on Sunday against the leader of the Jalisco Nueva Generación cartel, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias “El Mencho,” at least 74 people were killed in clashes and subsequent riots.
The cartel boss was also fatally injured. Alleged cartel members set up roadblocks, set vehicles on fire and attacked businesses.
GNA