Colombia arrests one of the leaders of the Tren de Aragua

The capture of Jorge Luis Páez Cordero, known as “Cucaracho”, occurred after an operation involving the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

“In Santa Marta, the police arrested the person known as ‘Cucaracho’, a drug kingpin and trusted associate of Niño Guerrero,” said the director of the Colombian National Police, General William Rincón, in an interview with Colombian television, where he confirmed that the detainee was the target of an Interpol red alert.

According to the general, Cucaracho is accused of “coordinating the shipment of tons of cocaine from Colombia and Venezuela to Central America, the USA and Europe, in addition to financing criminal organizations linked to terrorism and illegal arms trafficking.”

Authorities have reliable information linking the criminal to the extortion and kidnapping of traders in the Caribbean and accuse him of facilitating money laundering operations to strengthen the transnational gang’s illicit finances.

“His capture directly impacts the finances, logistics and criminal capacity of Tren de Aragua. We reaffirm that Colombia will not be a refuge for those who commit crimes beyond our borders,” added Rincón.

According to investigations, Cucaracho was designated by Niño Guerrero as the main leader of drug trafficking in South America, with the epicenter in Colombia.

Arrest of drug trafficker comes after US pressure

In January last year, US President Donald Trump designated Tren de Aragua, along with Mexican cartels and the Salvadoran MS-13 gang, as terrorist organizations.

In Colombia, Tren de Aragua leaders last year requested that President Gustavo Petro’s government include them in the so-called “total peace”, one of his administration’s main policies focused on negotiating with various criminal groups and gangs in the country.

However, the then Minister of Justice, Eduardo Montealegre, rejected the request, stating that he would not allow criminal organizations to “defy international justice to seek impunity for their crimes”.

The Colombian president met at the beginning of the month with his American counterpart, Donald Trump, at the White House, after months of friction between the two, mainly due to the Republican leader’s perception that Colombia does little to combat drug trafficking.