EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) — A federal grand jury in New Mexico has indicted 11 alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang on racketeering charges stemming from the kidnapping and strangling of a man whose body was buried in the desert.
The indictment alleges Henderson Yofre Mavo Finol, 39, and Adan Jose Ramirez Sanchez, 38, ordered the abduction of a victim only identified as John Doe 1 on or about June 16, 2024.
A Colombian national identified as Hagy Jose Barrios Rojano, 31, allegedly carried out the kidnapping by luring John Doe 1 to an apartment in Albuquerque. Once inside, the victim saw himself surrounded by five other men — all of them Venezuelan nationals, TDA members and illegally present in the U.S. — who tied him up and pistol-whipped him in the head and face.
The men in the apartment called Mavo and Ramirez, who put their phone on conference mode and conferred with other Tren de Aragua associates in the U.S. and abroad. The gang members violently interrogated John Doe 1 during the conference call regarding his loyalty to TDA and suspected dealings with rival gangs, prosecutors allege.
Gang members then allegedly beat and strangled John Doe 1.
“After the killing, Tren de Aragua members allegedly photographed the victim’s body and sent the images to Mavo Finol and other TDA leaders to confirm that the murder had been carried out as directed,” prosecutors allege.
Additional alleged Tren de Aragua members brought a piece of luggage to the apartment to transport the body to a remote desert area where they buried the victim.
Prosecutors are also linking Ramirez to an Aug. 18, 2024, armed confrontation at an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado. Two rival gangs allegedly exchanged gunfire and one man was killed.
The indictment charges the defendants with conspiracy to conduct racketeering activity, drug trafficking conspiracy, kidnapping in aid of racketeering and murder in a aid of racketeering, among others. They face life in prison if convicted.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico is prosecuting the case along with prosecutors from the Department of Justice’s Joint Task Force Vulcan.
The DOJ created Joint Task Force Vulcan in 2019 to prosecute members of the Salvadoran gang MS-13. It has since expanded its scope to target the activities of Tren de Aragua, whose criminal activities have been documented in Colorado, New Mexico, El Paso, Texas, and other U.S. locations.