Chilean investigators close in on the notorious Venezuelan gang targeted by Trump

BY ISABEL DEBRE and NAYARA BATSCHKE ARICA Chile AP The Venezuelan gang members wrote out even their preponderance minute purchases in blue pen for a drug trafficker s Uber for instant coffee during a lookout shift for supplies to clean what investigators learned were torture chambers The meticulous spreadsheets seized during police raids in Chile s northern town of Arica and shared with The Associated Press suggest the accounting structure of a multinational They amount to the majority of comprehensive documentation to date of the inner workings of Tren de Aragua Latin America s notorious criminal organization designated by President Donald Trump as a foreign terrorist group An analysis built over years by Chilean prosecutors in Arica which resulted in hefty sentences for people in March and inspired other cases which earlier this month sent a dozen Tren de Aragua leaders to prison for a total of years contrasts with Trump s mass deportations of suspected gang members While Trump s supporters cheer the expulsions investigators see missed opportunities to gather evidence aimed at uprooting the criminal system that has gained momentum across the region as migration from Venezuela surges and global cocaine demand spreads With the U S snatching guys off the streets they re taking out the tip of the iceberg stated Daniel Brunner president of Brunner Sierra Group safeguard firm and a former FBI agent They re not looking at how the group operates Alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang attend a preliminary hearing facing homicide charges in Santiago Chile July AP Photo Esteban Felix Organizational charts outlining defendants and links are displayed at the office of a prosecutor analyzing the Tren de Aragua gang in Arica Chile Monday June AP Photo Esteban Felix Bodyguards stand guard as prosecutor Mario Carrera surveys the shantytown of Cerro Chu o a stronghold of Los Gallegos the northern Chilean offshoot of the Tren de Aragua criminal gang in Arica Chile Sunday June AP Photo Esteban Felix Alleged members of the Tren de Aragua sit handcuffed during a preliminary hearing where they face homicide charges in Santiago Chile July AP Photo Esteban Felix Show Caption of Alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang attend a preliminary hearing facing homicide charges in Santiago Chile July AP Photo Esteban Felix Expand Transnational mafias have fueled an extraordinary crime wave in once-peaceful nations like Chile and consolidated power in countries like Honduras and Peru infiltrating state bureaucracies crippling the capacities of law enforcement and jeopardizing regional stability The new developments are testing democracies across Latin America This is not your typical corruption involving cash in envelopes noted former Peruvian Interior Minister Ruben Vargas of the impunity in his country It s having criminal operators wield power in the political system Chile long considered one of Latin America s safest and wealthiest nations is also among its least corrupt according to watchdog Transparency International giving government an edge in fending off this kind of organized crime But with no experience the country was caught unprepared as abductions dismemberments and other grisly crimes reshaped society Now three years later experts hold out Arica as a episode investigation in wider efforts to combat the gang While particular see El Salvador President Nayib Bukele scrackdown on criminal gangs as a model critics see an authoritarian police state that has run roughshod over due process Criminal prosecution financial intelligence witness protection and cooperation with other countries that s what it takes to disrupt criminal networks stated Pablo Zeballos a Chilean precaution consultant and former intelligence officer Using Tren de Aragua documents first recovered in Chilean prosecutor Bruno Hern ndez and his unit brought an unprecedented number of gang members to trial last year dismantling the gang s northern Chile offshoot known as Los Gallegos It marked a milestone prosecutor Mario Carrera noted last month from Arica s shantytown of Cerro Chu o a Los Gallegos stronghold Until then they were acting with impunity Following displaced persons to virgin territory Tren de Aragua slipped into northern Chile in after the pandemic shut borders and encouraged Venezuelans to turn to traffickers as they fled their nations crises and headed to Peru Colombia and Chile H ctor Guerrero Flores a Tren de Aragua leader nicknamed Ni o Guerrero dispatched managers to take over networks of coyotes shepherding human cargo across Chile s desert borders It was virgin territory from their perspective commented Ronna R squez the author of a book about the group Related Articles Israeli strikes kill in Gaza including a mother and newborn as more aid is allowed in Kim Jong Un s sister rejects outreach by South Korea s new president Trump says he wants Netanyahu to make sure they get the food in Gaza amid humanitarian situation Trump says he s shortening the -day deadline for Russia to end the war in Ukraine Two Israeli rights groups say their country is committing genocide in Gaza Tren de Aragua put down roots in Cerro Chu o a former toxic waste dump outside Arica where Venezuelan newcomers squeeze into boxlike homes Residents mentioned gangsters extracted protection fees from shop owners and unleashed violence on those who wouldn t pay We live in fear of them noted -year-old Saida Huanca recalling how Los Gallegos extorted her minimarket colleague and sent a knife-wielding man to collect road tolls I didn t leave the house The gang terrorized competitors and turncoats Court documents describe members tying up defectors and filming as they administered shocks and slashed fingers in clandestine torture chambers Intercepted calls from March obtained by AP show a rival panicking about Tren de Aragua s arrival Where am I supposed to run dude Chilean kingpin Marco Iguazo can be heard asking Bodies were uncovered shot or dismembered and stuffed into suitcases Various were buried alive under cement It was total psychosis reported Carrera who communicated Arica homicides surging from to Cloud emojis and Christmas bonuses Last month at Arica s investigative police headquarters AP observed Hern ndez attempt to persuade -year-old Wilmer L pez to talk The alleged Los Gallegos hitman kept silent eyes fixed on his Nikes As a rule members don t collaborate with investigations Without testimony last year Hern ndez s main recourse was bookkeeping records They revealed a rigid bureaucracy with centralized leadership that granted local cells autonomy We had to prove not only that they committed crimes but that there was a structure and pattern disclosed paralegal Esperanza Amor on Hern ndez s organization Otherwise they would ve been tried as common criminals Documents displayed migrant smuggling and sex trafficking as the gang s primary source of income While the per-client price for sex varies by city in Arica over in the capital of Santiago each cell replicated the same structure The gang confiscated half of women s earnings then deducted rent and food in a form of debt bondage Salary spreadsheets displayed regional coordinators earning up to monthly Hitmen could earn per job plus protection for relatives in Venezuela The bulk operatives received Christmas bonuses Investigators cross-checked messages among gang members with drone surveillance to decrypt their use of emojis Selected were self-explanatory a snake signifying a traitor Others less so A bone meant debt a pineapple was a safehouse a raincloud warned of a raid Getting to trial With the defendants in custody the bloodshed abated Arica s homicide rate plunged from homicides per inhabitants in to homicides per last year After the association secured convictions on charges including aggravated homicide human trafficking and sexual exploitation of minors bureaucrats paid more attention Similar investigations proliferated nationwide Carrera traveled to Washington to share intelligence with the FBI The unit did something that had never been done in Chile and achieved results disclosed Ignacio Castillo director of organized crime at Chile s constituents prosecutor s office Other countries have largely struggled to prosecute Tren de Aragua The Trump administration has used the gang to justify deporting asylum seekers with specific arrested for little more than tattoos Experts say the Justice Department is too distracted by mass expulsions to conduct thorough investigations Those kind of yearslong investigations are not happening reported Brunner I see the current deportation tactics as working in favor of organized crime A country traumatized and transformed The next challenge for Hern ndez s unit is tracking Los Gallegos as they regroup behind bars Several Cerro Chu o businesses announced they still receive extortion threats from prison phones Organized crime will invariably adapt Hern ndez explained We need to get ahead Despite the national homicide rate declining enthusiasm for a more ruthless approach is spreading as leftist President Gabriel Boric a former attendee protest leader battles for his legacy ahead of November presidential elections Polls show precaution as voters top concern The current favorite is far-right candidate Jos Antonio Kast who draws inspiration from Bukele and Trump He vows to build a dividing line barrier and deport undocumented newcomers no matter the cost Watching her grandchildren play outside a church in Arica Maria Pe a Gonzalez commented Kast had her vote You can t walk at night like you could before she mentioned Chile has changed since different types of people started arriving