
A Venezuelan national identified as Ender Alexis Rojas Montán, an alleged top leader of the transnational criminal organization Tren de Aragua, died onTuesday after falling from a sixth-floor apartment during a police operation in Sabaneta, a municipality south of Medellín, Colombian authorities confirmed.
According to the National Police, the raid was conducted jointly with the Attorney General's Office to execute an Interpol arrest warrant issued by Chile, where Rojas was wanted for aggravated kidnapping and organized crime.
Colonel Edgar Andrés Correa, head of the Gaula Police anti-kidnapping unit, said Rojas "threw himself into the void from a sixth floor upon noticing the police presence, losing his life at the scene," as La Vanguardia explains.
Investigators said Rojas, 31, had recently relocated to Colombia after coordinating Tren de Aragua's operations in Chile and Peru. He was allegedly overseeing the group's expansion across the Aburrá Valley, managing criminal activities that included extortion, narcotics trafficking, human smuggling, and forced labor networks, as Colombia's Focus Noticias points out.
During the raid, police arrested three other Venezuelan nationals identified as Luis Cabeza, Daviannys del Jesús Moya, and Samuel Urbina, who authorities say were responsible for organizing extortion and trafficking operations in several municipalities near Medellín. Firearms, counterfeit identity documents, cash, and communications equipment were seized.
National Police Director General William Salamanca said the operation was part of a broader strategy to dismantle the Tren de Aragua's presence in Colombia. "This individual played a leadership role in articulating the group's structure in Antioquia. His death occurred as he attempted to evade justice in a legally authorized operation," Salamanca said.
The Tren de Aragua, which originated in Venezuela's Tocorón prison, has established operations in Colombia, Peru, Chile, and Bolivia. The United States has designated the group a terrorist organization and is offering up to $12 million for information leading to the capture of three of its top leaders, including Héctor Guerrero Flores, alias "Niño Guerrero."
The raid came the same day as Colombia's Minister of Justice, Eduardo Montealegre, rejected a request from the Tren de Aragua to be included in President Gustavo Petro's "Total Peace" initiative. The proposal, submitted by lawyers for another leader, Larry Álvarez Núñez, asked the government to suspend extradition orders and name him as a "peace facilitator."
Montealegre said the government "will not allow criminal organizations to mock international justice under the pretext of peace negotiations." He added that while Colombia has suspended extraditions in four cases involving recognized peace mediators, "none will be extended to transnational criminal structures."
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