DENVER — What was described as “the biggest investigation” of the Venezuelan street gang Tren de Aragua in the country unfolded in Colorado over the past 10 months, federal officials announced on Monday, netting 30 indictments of people allegedly involved in drug and weapons trafficking and a “barbaric” murder-for-hire plot.
U.S. Attorney Peter McNeilly said Monday that investigators estimated three TdA leaders, five alleged members and “numerous” associates of the gang were charged in the operation.
The investigation started in October of 2024 when the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office started looking into a spike in crime at the Ivy Crossing apartment complex in Aurora with the help of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). It would ultimately involve roughly 40 undercover operations where informants bought guns and a drug called tusi – also known as “pink cocaine,” most commonly a mix of ketamine and ecstasy.
- Denver7 Chief Investigator Tony Kovaleski breaks down what we know about the massive TdA probe, in the video player below:
“What began as a local violent crime case quickly evolved into a complex, transnational, armed drug and firearms trafficking investigation with links to major cities like Chicago, Kansas City and Miami, ultimately leading agents to two international arrests in Colombia,” Brent Beavers, Denver ATF special agent in charge, said Monday.
The two individuals arrested in Medellin, Colombia – Luis Fernando Uribe-Torrealba and Luis Henriquez Charaima – were among those “most responsible” for the alleged crimes, officials said. Their capture, which occurred recently as part of a complex process that involved cooperation with Colombian law enforcement, was instrumental in officials going public with information about the sting, McNeilly said. One of the other suspected leaders, Jose Manuel Guerra-Caballero, was arrested in late January.
Uribe-Torreabla and Henriquez Charaima were charged separately from the other 28 defendants, who were indicted by a federal grand jury.
"The charges tell a story of people selling guns and drugs. Lots of them," McNeilly said. "The affidavits which have been filed in this case also tell a story of a murder for hire plot and other crimes that the defendants were willing to commit, such as sex trafficking. One of the people who offered to commit murders in this case, bragged to the undercover officers that the people he would use to commit those murders were the very same people that we had seen committing crimes on the news in these apartment complexes in Aurora."
- Watch federal officials provide an update on the investigation in the video player below:
Sixty-nine firearms and “pounds” of narcotics were seized throughout the operation, which included agents from the ATF, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, ICE Enforcement, Joint Task Force Vulcan, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Aurora Police and the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office.
The investigation also uncovered a murder-for-hire plot in which “several” of the suspects involved agreed to kill two people in exchange for $15,000 – and offering the victims’ severed heads for extra cash.
"TDA has brought its terrorism to the United States. TDA is real, it is dangerous, and we have made prosecuting TDA a priority in the District of Colorado," McNeilly said.
Twenty-four of the people charged were in federal custody. The two arrested in Colombia were awaiting extradition to the U.S.
Since the operation, Arapahoe County Sheriff Tyler Brown said that calls for service at the Ivy Crossing Apartments were down 75% compared to 2023 and 2024.
"That is life changing for the people in this community," Brown said.
Below is a list of those arrested in the operation:
- Jose Manuel Guerra-Caballero a.k.a “Blanco,” a.k.a. “Cuchillo”
- Jose Gerardo Villamediana-Villanueva
- Michelle Peña
- Kleber Arguello-Villegas
- Jose David Hernandez-Gonzalez
- Jonathan Jose Ocopio-Villalobos
- Victor Alexander Hernandez-Villacreses
- Alexandra Nazaret Marin-Risco
- Jonathan Enrique Medina
- Keidinson Orlando Torrealba-Gonzalez
- Kevin Alexander Ruiz-Perez
- Lenguinyer Guevara-Muro
- Jhon Harrison Villalobos-Salas
- Esleiter Vargas-Morales
- Yeiber Samuel Alfonzo-Martinez
- Guarnel Moises Urbina-Betancourt
- Willangel Maikeyker Martinez-Sanoja
- Kendry Jose Robertis-Garcia
- Michael Joel Ojeda-Avila
- Luis Aguilera-Pericaguan
- Nelo Osmel Comenarez-Morillo
- Santtys Jose Silva-Alvarez
- Rosmer Javier Bello-Garcia
- Jose David Rivas-Mendez
- Antony Alexander Diaz-Gonzalez
- Diomar Armando Mendez-Chavez
- Dannys Alexis Moncada-Arteaga
- Jose Daniel Bencomo-Gutierrez
- Luis Fernando Uribe-Torrealba (arrested in Medellin)
- Luis Henriquez Charaima (arrested in Medellin)
