A man suspected of being a member of the Tren de Aragua gang in Texas has been charged with murder and kidnapping.
A man accused of smuggling weapons for the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua has been indicted for capital murder and aggravated kidnapping in Texas.
Gabriel Sira-Vargas, 29, is being held at the Bexar County Jail with a bail set at $2 million after the death of Alexis Jose Vegas, an 18-year-old who was found face down with multiple gunshot wounds in July on the side of a highway in San Antonio, according to the San Antonio Express-News.
In September, Planet Chronicle Digital reported that Sira-Vargas was previously held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and is suspected of weapons trafficking in relation to Tren de Aragua.
Investigators reportedly were led to Sira-Vargas after looking into an alleged robbery.
According to the San Antonio Express-News, an unidentified man informed police that he was present at an apartment with Vegas and another person on July 1 when three armed suspects entered the premises.
The unidentified man and Vegas were zip-tied and forced into the back of a vehicle before being taken to a grassy area along U.S. 281, according to the newspaper.
At that location, Sira-Vargas and another gunman in the front passenger seat began shooting at the pair, according to the San Antonio Express-News.
The man, who was unidentified, claimed to have been injured but feigned death until the suspects departed the location.
The Tren de Aragua, or "train of Aragua," was traced back to the Tocoron prison in Venezuela's Aragua state between 2013 and 2015.
Since at least 2021, Tren de Aragua has been operating in Texas, with gang affiliates being arrested for human trafficking. In September, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott designated TdA as a "foreign terrorist organization" and launched a statewide operation to aggressively target the gang.
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