The Colombian authorities rescued four Venezuelans who were allegedly kidnapped by the “Tren de Aragua” gang in the Colombian town of Villa del Rosario, according to information from the Colombian Police.
Four people of Venezuelan nationality who remained kidnapped by members of the criminal group “Tren de Aragua” were released during an operation carried out by officials of the Cúcuta Metropolitan Police.
“The four people detained against their will, three men and one woman, including a minor under 17 years of age, were forcibly entered and under threats to a warehouse that had a travel agency as a front,” said the Cúcuta Police in a statement.
According to the information, six Venezuelan citizens arrived last Tuesday in the city of Cúcuta, capital of the department of Norte de Santander, on the border with Venezuela, from Chile.
There they stayed at a hotel in the center of the city and the next day they traveled to Villa del Rosario, where they were approached by porters who charged them 50,000 Colombian pesos (about 11 dollars) for helping them load their luggage.
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The high charge sparked a discussion and the Venezuelan citizens were taken to the central part of Villa del Rosario, where “a group of people surprised them and subdued them. Two of them manage to flee the place and cross the Simón Bolívar bridge towards Venezuela.
The group that escaped reported what had happened to the Venezuelan authorities who, in turn, alerted the Colombian authorities and launched an operation that allowed the rescue of the kidnapped and the capture of the four alleged members of the “Aragua Train.”
The relatives of the kidnapped received messages via WhatsApp, in which members of the “Tren de Aragua” demanded $100,000 for their release.
“An intimidating video was even sent where they threatened the kidnapped people with firearms and forced them to ask them to pay the money for their release,” the Police explained.
The kidnappers found four firearms, one of them with a sound suppressor, bullets, and three mobile phones.
The “Aragua Train”, which takes its name from that Venezuelan state, has extended its criminal actions. Initially it was in the border area where they control the trails and illicit businesses in the area, but later they appeared in Bogotá where control of micro-trafficking is being disputed with local criminals.
With information from EFE
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