Chile, Arica (AP) – Members of the Venezuelan gang have even written a minimum purchase with the Blue Pen. $15 for drug trafficker Uber. $9 for instant coffee during a lookout shift. $34 was a torture chamber for supplies to clean up what the investigators learned.
A meticulous spreadsheet seized during a police attack in the northern Chilean town of Arica and shared with the Associated Press suggests the accounting structure of multinational companies.
They are Tren de Araguathe infamous Latin American crime organization designated by President Donald Trump Foreign terrorist groups.
A long-standing investigation built by Chilean prosecutors in Arica gave 34 people a large sentence in March. And it was inspired by other cases earlier this month that sent Tren de Aragua leaders to prison for a total of 300 years. Deporting suspicious gang members.
Trump supporters Supporting expulsion, Investigators believe they are missing out on the opportunity to gather evidence aimed at uprooting the criminal networks that have gained momentum across the region, as they migrate from Venezuela’s surge and spreading global cocaine demand.
“They’re taking the tip of the iceberg as the US snatches guys on the streets,” said Daniel Bruner, president of Bruner Sierra Group Security Company and former FBI agent. “They don’t see how the group works.”
The cross-border mafia fuels the extraordinary wave of crime in countries such as Honduras and Peru, such as former secular countries, integrated power and infiltrated state bureaucrats, undermining the capacity of law enforcement and endangering regional stabilization.
The new development is testing democracy in Latin America.
“This is not your typical corruption, including envelope cash,” said former Peruvian Minister of Internal Affairs of his country. “The criminal office holds power in the political system.”
Chile, long considered one of the safest and wealthiest countries in Latin America, is also the least corrupt, giving authorities the advantage in dodging this type of organized crime.
But without experience, the country was not prepared as acquiring, dismantling and other horrifying crimes reconstructed society.
Now, three years later, experts are holding Arica as a case study of a broader effort to fight gangs.
Some people see President of El Salvador Naive BuquereCriminal gang crackdown As a model, critics look at the state of authoritarian police carried out Make the right process rough.
“Criminal prosecution, financial information, witness protection and cooperation with other countries are what they need to do to disrupt the criminal network,” said Pablo Roseboros, a Chilean security consultant and former intelligence agent.
Using the Tren de Aragua documents first recovered in 2022, Chilean prosecutor Bruno Hernandez and his forces brought unprecedented gang members to trial last year and dismantled a Northern Chilean derivative of the gang known as the Los Gargos.
“It marked a milestone,” prosecutor Mario Carrera said last month from Arica’s Shantitown in Cerro Tuño, a Los Gallegos home. “Up until then, they were acting with immunity.”
Following immigration to “virgin territory”
Tren de Aragua slid into northern Chile in 2021 after the pandemic closed its borders, encouraging Venezuelans to flee the country’s crisis and head to smugglers as they head to Peru, Colombia and Chile.
Hector Guerrero Flores – Leader of Tren de Aragua, known as “Ninho Guerrero” – The dispatched manager takes over a network of “coyotes” who shepherd human cargo across the borders of Chilean desert.
“It was a virgin territory from their perspective,” said Rona Risk, author of a book on the group.
Tren de Aragua has taken root in Cerro Tuño, a former toxic waste dump outside of Arica, where Venezuelan immigrants squeeze into box-like homes.
Residents said the gangs had withdrawn “protection” costs from shopkeepers and unleashed violence against people who didn’t pay.
“We live in fear of them,” said 38-year-old Sieda Huanca. It reminds me of how Los Gallegos forced her minimark colleagues and sent a man wielding a knife to collect road tolls. “I didn’t leave the house.”
The gang terrified their competitors and turncoats.
Court documents explain that members were filming as they tied up the asylum, administering shock and novel fingers in a secret torture chamber.
Intercepted calls from March 2022, obtained by the Associated Press, show rivals panicking over the arrival of Trenderagua. “Where are you going to run, man?” You can hear Chilean Kingpin Marco Iguazo ask.
The bodies were found, shot, torn apart, and stuffed into suitcases. Many were buried alive under cement.
“It was total mental illness,” Carrera said.
Cloud Emoji and Christmas Bonus
Last month at Arica’s Investigative Police Headquarters, the Associated Press observed that Hernandez had attempted to persuade 23-year-old Wilmer Lopez. The suspect, Ross Gallegos Hitman, remained silent and turned his eyes to his naik.
As a general rule, members do not cooperate with the investigation. Without testimony from last year, Hernandez’s main measure would be bookkeeping records. They revealed strict bureaucracy with centralized leadership that acknowledged the autonomy of local cells.
“We had to prove that they not only committed crimes, but there was a structure and pattern,” said Paragal Esperanza Amor of Hernandez’s team. “If not, they would have been tried as common criminals.”
The documents showed migrant smuggling and sex trafficking as the main source of income for gangs.
Prices per client for sex vary by city – $60 in Arica and $100 in the capital of Santiago – each cell replicated the same structure. The gang confiscated half of the women’s income and then deducted rent and food in the form of debt bondage.
The pay spreadsheet showed that he acquired a regional coordinator of up to $1,200 each month. Hitmen can earn $1,000 per job, and also gain protection from Venezuelan relatives. Most operatives received a $200 Christmas bonus.
Investigators cross-checked messages among gang members with drone surveillance to revive the use of emojis.
Some were self-evident – snakes meaning traitors. Others aren’t: bones mean debt, pineapple is safe house, Raincloud warned of raids.
Being put to trial
The bloodshed has been eased as the defendant is in custody. Arica’s murder rate plummeted from 17 murders per 100,000 in 2022 to 9.9 murders per 100,000 last year.
Authorities took more attention after the team secured 34 convictions on charges of worsening murder, human trafficking and sexual exploitation of minors.
Similar surveys have grown nationwide. Carrera traveled to Washington to share information with the FBI.
“The unit has done something that has never been done in Chile and achieved results,” said Ignacio Castillo, director of organized crime at the Chilean prosecutor’s office.
Other countries have largely struggled to indict Tren de Aragua.
The Trump administration used gangs to justify immigrants who oust them. I was arrested more than a tattoo.
Experts say the Department of Justice is the same I’m distracted by mass expulsion A thorough investigation will be conducted.
“No investigations have happened for that year,” Bruner said. “We believe current deportation tactics are in favour of organized crime.”
The country was hurt and transformed
The next challenge for Hernandez’s unit is to track down Los Gallegos as he reorganizes behind the bar. Some Cerro Chuño companies say they are still threatened by fear tor from prison calls.
“Organized crime is always adaptable,” Hernandez said. “We need to move on.”
Despite the declining national murder rate, enthusiasm for a more ruthless approach is Left President Gabriel Boricka former student protest leader, a battle of his legacy ahead of the November presidential election. Polls show security as the biggest concern for voters.
My current favorite is the far right candidate Jose Antonio Casttaking inspiration from Bukere and Trump. He vows to build a border wall and expel undocumented migrants “without costs.”
Seeing her grandson play outside of Arica’s church, 70-year-old Maria Peña Gonzalez said Casto had voted for her.
“You can’t walk at night like you used to,” she said. “Chile has changed since different kinds of people began arriving.”
