National Police
An accused head of the violent branch of the Venezuelan organized crime group Aragua Train has been arrested in a collaborative effort featuring Colombian authorities, the US, and the United Kingdom.
Colombia's national law enforcement announced that José Antonio Márquez Morales - known as Caracas - was captured in the city of northern Colombia and claimed that he was instrumental in managing the operations and finances for the organization for blackmail, drug trafficking, and contraband.
This criminal group has been focused on by American leader Donald Trump, who declared it a terror group and expelled over 250 people he alleged were members of the syndicate to a prison in El Salvador.
Colombia's head of national police, Triana Beltrán, said that the individual was the focus of an global detention request, which is a request to law enforcement globally to detain someone awaiting deportation.
Information of the detention surfaced amid continuing disagreements between the US and Venezuela over the American leadership's fight against drug smuggling in Latin America.
American forces has dispatched military ships to the Caribbean Sea and recently, bombed vessels which the administration alleged were transporting illegal substances, seemingly travelling from the South American nation to the United States.
The Trump administration has alleged Venezuelan President President Maduro of being in league with trafficking organizations and is offering a bounty for tips resulting in his apprehension to $50m (equivalent to £37 million).
Maduro has categorically refuted American allegations and has supported his administration's measures to counter drug trafficking.
Connected Topics
- Venezuelan affairs
- Trump administration
- Illegal drug market
