Local, federal police uncover major crime ring led by Venezuelan TdA gangsters

DENVER | An investigation that began with a spike in violent crime just outside of Aurora, evolved into a months-long local and federal investigation into allegations that the notorious Tren de Aragua gang was leading a crime ring deep into firearms trafficking, narcotics dealing and human smuggling.

Arapahoe County sheriff officials, federal agents and prosecutors said at a press conference Monday that they infiltrated a ring of Venezuelan gangsters and immigrants, netting the arrest of 30 people, and claimed that Colorado is the main U.S. hub for the gang.

“This is not just an important case for Colorado, this is an important case for the whole country,” said Jeremy Franker, deputy director of the Joint Task Force Vulcan for the Department of Justice.

Federal officials said Aurora and the surrounding Denver and Front Range areas became a magnet for Tren de Aragua, a Venezuela prison gang, because so many Venezuelan migrants settled there in recent years. Denver officials say as many as 40,000-50,000 Venezuelan migrants came to the Denver area during the last two years after Texas state officials began busing them here and cities like New York and Chicago.

“Throughout multiple investigations that we’ve had so far, a lot of the information comes out that they followed resources that they were offered resources in the State of Colorado,” said Homeland Security Investigations special agent in charge, Steve Keagan. “(Resources) that they weren’t offered elsewhere, but at the same time, once one group came and had a stronghold here, then their friends came.” 

The suspects include leaders, members and associates of the TdA, who face charges of firearms trafficking, narcotics distribution, sex trafficking and even a barbaric murder-for-hire plot, U.S. Attorney for Colorado Martin McNeely said.

“The charges tell a story of people selling guns and drugs, lots of them,” McNealy said. “Several of the defendants agreed to kill two people for $15,000 and return their severed heads as proof of the murder for just an extra $5,000 about 10 months ago.”

Federal court documents describe an undercover operation in which federal agents say Luis Aguilera-Pericaguan, a Venezuelan national, acted as a broker for gun and drug sales at the Ivy Crossing apartment complex, 2470 S Quebec St., in Arapahoe County, just east of Aurora.

Investigators with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives allege that Aguilera-Pericaguan and an associate, Jose Manuel Guerra-Caballero, also from Venezuela, offered undercover agents virtually unlimited amounts of illegal firearms, cocaine and other drugs as well as young women they claimed could be trafficked across the border from Mexico.

The case, rooted in information passed to ATF by the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office last fall, illustrates how an up-and-coming international gang ring is working to infiltrate the United States. 

Over the next year, ATF undercover agents said they conducted more than 40 dangerous undercover operations across Aurora and the Denver metro area, purchasing firearms, narcotics and documenting offers of sex trafficking and contract killings.

“We’ve heard across the country from TdA leaders and other people as part of the investigation that they refer to that as ‘Mini Toco’,” Franker said referring to the notorious prison in Venezuela that Tren de Aragua began. “That’s the prison in Venezuela that the gang first initiated, and the members are referring to the hub here in Colorado. Well, not anymore.”

It’s unclear if Franker was referring to Ivy Crossing in unaffiliated Arapahoe County or the Edge at Lowry in Aurora as “Mini Tocorón.” Ivy Crossing was referred to as the location for the vast majority of the crime in the court documents the agents referred to, while Aurora Chief of Police Todd Chamberlain said that the Edge of Lowry was also a main hub for the gang. Court documents did not refer to or link to crimes at the Aurora apartments.

Chamberlain said his experience with the potential gang members at the Edge at Lowry apartment complex has been incredibly violent and that their mission was to victimize other immigrants.

“Their mission was to be like a parasite and basically take over control,” Chamberlain said. “We are working in collaboration and partnership to address it, and we will not allow TdA or any other group that comes in on a failed policy to have an impact to this state, to our cities and to this country.”

Ivy Crossing was repeatedly cited as a hub of TdA by federal officials and Arapahoe County sheriff Tyler Brown. Chamberlain suggested that the Edge at Lowry was similarly involved. Residents have described a fear-evoking environment, where drug sales, extortion and violent assaults became routine.

Councilmember Danielle Jurinsky sounded the alarm about a gang infiltration in Aurora last fall, with many other state and local officials claiming the situation was under control. 

“The previous leadership knew exactly what this was, but like I said, they were so focused on protecting an image that they completely lied about it and denied the entire situation,” She said. “So they knew. They knew the whole time.” 

She said she realized that the emails she was receiving from the police department admitted that there were gang members and that these gang members were proud and they weren’t hiding it. She began posting the emails on her social media to get the word out. 

“Previous leadership knew exactly what this was; they were so focused on protecting an image, and they completely lied about it,” she said. “Under the current leadership, it would have never been denied. They would have been proactive. It would have never come to me having to go into these apartment complexes with a gun and start moving people out. It would have never made national news. It would have never gotten national attention. That simply wouldn’t have happened.”

City and police officials have steadfastly insisted that the problems at three controversial apartments existed before Venezuelan immigrants began making their way to the metro area. They have said there were documented incidents of crime and crime related to TdA and other gangs, but they have insisted that unlivable conditions at the apartment complexes were caused by apartment complex owners. 

Jurinsky added that the media and police and city leadership hid their heads in the sand and that she thinks there should be accountability for it.

“This isn’t because Aurora is crime-ridden or it’s a horrible place,” Aurora City Attorney Pete Schulte said. “It’s not. It’s because these buildings were just not being managed. It allowed the criminal element to come in and take over those buildings.”

Police and federal agents said the problem was much larger than incidents of crime in Aurora.

During the course of the collaborative investigation, agents seized 69 firearms, many privately made “ghost guns” or fitted with illegal machine-gun conversion switches. ATF officials said 27 of those weapons were connected to 67 shootings in Colorado and other states.

The operation also netted multi-kilogram quantities of fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine and “Tusi” (or “pink cocaine”), a synthetic cocktail that has gained popularity in South America and is now surfacing in the U.S.

“That quantity alone (of fentanyl) could have killed more than 900,000 Americans,” said David Olesky, Drug Enforcement Administration special agent in charge of the Rocky Mountain Division. “With Tren de Aragua, engaged in the trafficking of fentanyl and other deadly drugs, they put themselves into the same category as the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco Cartel.”

Calls for service at Ivy Crossing have since dropped 75% between January and August 2025 compared to the prior year, thanks to enhanced security, surveillance and a more substantial law enforcement presence, Brown said.

The situation did produce a positive outcome with one of Aurora’s senior assistant city attorneys, who was assigned as a special assistant United States attorney to the district of Colorado two years ago to focus on the cases coming in and out of Aurora and the surrounding areas, to specialize in the gang, Schulte said to the Sentinel. 

“I’ve been told she has taken the lead on TdA nationally,” he said. “She was very involved with this investigation that was talked about this morning, and I’m very proud that Aurora has a resource that we can provide to the government.”

Even with this bust, Aurora still has an active threat of TdA gang members, and the police department said they are taking it very seriously while actively working with its federal partners, Gabby Easterwood, spokesperson for the Aurora Police Department, said. She added that there is no way to estimate the number of TdA members in Aurora.

“I have a message specifically for TdA,” McNeely said. “We will not let you use Colorado as your headquarters in the United States. If you bring your dangerous crimes to Colorado, we will hunt you down, and we will bring you to justice, and we will go anywhere in the world in pursuit of you. We are committed to the total elimination of TdA.”

Those arrested and identified in court documents this week:

1. Jose Manuel Guerra-Caballero, 3/29/1987, a.k.a “Blanco,” a.k.a. “Cuchillo,” Guerra-Caballero is accused of being both a weapons supplier and drug trafficker, with links to the sex trafficking and violent enforcement side of Tren de Aragua’s operations in Aurora and beyond. He was verified as a possible leader of TdA according to the undercover agents and was arrested in Indiana. His pending charges include conspiracy to illegally traffic firearms, conspiracy to distribute tusi, conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, and illegal alien in possession of firearms and ammunition. 

2. Jose Gerardo Villamediana-Villanueva, 09/17/1991, is accused of being involved with drug trafficking involving meth and “tusi.” He claimed to undercover agents that he was not an actual TdA member; however, he implied that Guerra-Caballero was. He was arrested in Colorado. Pending charges include conspiracy to distribute 500 grams of methamphetamine and possession of a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime.

3. Michelle Peña, 03/30/1997, pending charges include conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, and possession and conspiracy to use a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime.

4. Kleber Arguello-Villegas, 12/19/1985, pending charges include conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, and possession and conspiracy to use a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime.

5. Jose David Hernandez-Gonzalez, 07/03/1996, pending charges include conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, and possession and conspiracy to use a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime.

6. Jonathan Jose Ocopio-Villalobos, 11/20/1980, pending charges include conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, and possession and conspiracy to use a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime. 

7. Victor Alexander Hernandez-Villacreses, 10/02/2000, pending charges include conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, and possession and conspiracy to use a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime. 

8. Alexandra Nazaret Marin-Risco, 10/20/1990, pending charges include illegal alien in possession of a firearm.

9. Jonathan Enrique Medina, 10/13/1998, pending charges include conspiracy to traffic firearms, possession of a machine gun and distribution and conspiracy to distribute tusi.

10. Keidinson Orlando Torrealba-Gonzalez, 12/18/1999, pending charges include attempting to trafficking firearms.

11. Kevin Alexander Ruiz-Perez, 01/16/2000, pending charges include conspiracy and distribution of tusi, and attempt to illegally traffic firearms. 

12. Lenguinyer Guevara-Muro, 10/16/1996, pending charges include conspiring to distribute and distributing tusi and conspiracy to traffic and trafficking firearms. 

13. Jhon Harrison Villalobos-Salas, 09/10/1990, pending charges include conspiracy and distribution of tusi, and distribution of cocaine. 

14. Esleiter Vargas-Morales, 01/20/200, pending charges include conspiracy and trafficking firearms and conspiracy and distributing tusi and cocaine.

15. Yeiber Samuel Alfonzo-Martinez, 11/13/2002, pending charges include attempt to illegally traffic firearms

16. Guarnel Moises Urbina-Betancourt, 09/16/1998, pending charges include conspiracy to illegally traffic firearms and distribution of tusi. 

17. Willangel Maieyker Martinez-Sanoja, 05/23/1999, pending charges include conspiracy to illegally traffic firearms, and conspiracy and distribution of tusi and cocaine.

18. Kendry Jose Robertis-Garcia, 05/22/2004, pending charges include illegal alien in possession of a firearm.

19. Michael Joel Ojeda-Avila, 03/15/20003, pending charges include distribution of tusi, cocaine, and possession of a firearm.

20. Luis Aguilera-Pericaguan, 09/15/1991, pending charges include conspiracy and illegal trafficking of firearms and conspiracy and distribution of tusi, along with possession of a machine gun.

21. Nelo Osmel Comenarez-Morillo, 09/09/1995, pending charges include conspiracy to illegal trafficking in firearms.

22. Santtys Jose Silva-Alvarez, 09/29/1996, pending charges include conspiracy to illegal trafficking in firearms, and illegal alien in possession of a firearm.

23. Rosmer Javier Bello-Garcia, 09/18/1995, pending charges include conspiracy to illegal trafficking in firearms, and illegal alien in possession of a firearm.

24. Jose David Rivas-Mendez, 09/18/2003, pending charges include conspiracy to illegally traffic firearms, murder for hire and conspiracy, conspiracy to distribute tusi and possession of an unregistered short-barreled rifle. He also said that murder is like a game for the suspects hired, and that it’s like golf; it’s all laughs. 

25. Antony Alexander Diaz-Gonzalez, 03/12/1995, pending charge includes murder for hire and conspiracy.

26. Diomar Armando Mendez-Chavez, 04/30/2002, pending charges include murder for hire and conspiracy, and illegal alien in possession of a firearm. 

27. Dannys Alexis Moncada-Arteaga, 9/26/2002, pending charge includes murder for hire and conspiracy.

28. Jose Daniel Bencomo-Gutierrez, 2/3/2002, pending charge includes murder for hire and conspiracy.

29. Luis Fernando Uribe-Torrealba (Arrested In Medellin), 09/15/1995, 

30.Luis Henriquez Charaima (Arrested In Medellin), 10/31/1996