U.S. Arrests Alleged Tren de Aragua Leader Charged in Chile with Criminal Association, Extortion, and Kidnapping Resulting in Death

LOS ANGELES - A Venezuelan national and illegal alien has been arrested at the request of the Government of Chile so that he may be prosecuted on seven charges stemming from his alleged role as a leader of "Los Piratas," the primary Chilean cell of the Venezuelan transnational criminal organization Tren de Aragua (TdA), the Justice Department announced today.

Rafael Enrique Gámez Salas, 40, who was finishing serving a federal prison sentence in San Bernardino County, was arrested by the United States Marshals Service (USMS) and was transferred to USMS custody in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

Chile accuses Gámez Salas of directing multiple extortions and kidnappings on behalf of TdA, one of which resulted in the highly publicized murder of a former Venezuelan military officer. This arrest brings Gámez Salas, who also has criminal convictions in the United States for human smuggling and illegal reentry after deportation, one step closer to facing justice in Chile after illegally attempting to seek refuge in the United States.

"Our country must never become a refuge for criminal illegal aliens who are senior members of foreign terrorist organizations," said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. "We will continue to work closely with our overseas law enforcement partners to ensure this defendant will face justice in a Chilean courtroom."

"This illegal alien from Venezuela is an alleged leader of the foreign terrorist organization TdA," said Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. "While in the United States, he was convicted of human smuggling and is accused by Chile of heinous violent crimes. This man is a clear public safety threat and should never have been in this country but reentered the United States illegally under the Biden Administration. The Justice Department, along with our federal and international partners, will continue to put safety and security first."

"Rafael Enrique Gámez Salas's arrest for purposes of extradition is evidence of the strong and ongoing cooperation between the United States and our foreign partners to combat transnational crime, dismantle foreign terrorist organizations like Tren de Aragua and hold members accountable for their heinous criminal acts," said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department's Criminal Division. "The United States is not a safe haven for dangerous criminal aliens. Thanks to the Criminal Division's Office of International Affairs, which worked extensively with Chilean authorities over the last year to obtain the facts and evidence necessary to initiate these extradition proceedings."

Gámez Salas, also known as "Adrian Rafael Gámez Finol" and "Turko," is accused of overseeing the criminal activities of Los Piratas in Chile. According to Chilean authorities, he planned and coordinated kidnappings, homicides, extortions and other offenses on behalf of the TdA affiliate, which included instructing subordinates to obtain necessary resources to execute the offenses, and ensuring that financial resources generated for Los Piratas were transferred abroad.

Chile is seeking Gámez Salas's extradition so that he may stand trial for one count of criminal association, two counts of extortion, two counts of unjustified firearm discharge, one count of kidnapping resulting in homicide and one count of kidnapping for extortion, arising from separate crimes against multiple victims.

As set forth in the United States' complaint for provisional arrest with a view toward extradition, Chile alleges, among other things, that Gámez Salas, acting under the supervision of senior TdA leadership, directed and planned the February 2024 kidnapping and murder in Santiago, Chile, of a former Lieutenant in the Venezuelan military.

According to Chile, members of Los Piratas arrived at the victim's apartment building in the middle of the night armed with firearms and in a car equipped with a blue light in an apparent attempt to impersonate officers of the Chilean Investigative Police. After using a battering ram to force entry into the victim's apartment, the perpetrators handcuffed the victim and forcibly removed him from the building and into a car.

Around one week later, in response to a tip from a witness, authorities discovered the victim's body by drilling into the concrete floor of a makeshift dwelling in a housing development elsewhere in Santiago. The victim's body was found covered in lime, concealed inside a suitcase, buried in concrete more than three feet deep and sealed beneath a concrete slab.

An autopsy determined that the victim's cause of death was asphyxia due to hanging, and the victim's body showed signs of suspension by the upper extremities, lesions consistent with torture and partial postmortem dismemberment. Testimony obtained in the Chilean investigation revealed that the victim's kidnapping and murder was allegedly ordered by leaders of TdA and directed to be paid for from outside of Chile.

Additionally, in an intercepted conversation, Gámez Salas allegedly told other Los Piratas members that he had been assigned "from above" the task of coordinating and executing the crime.

In support of its other charges against Gámez Salas, Chile also alleges that he played a leading role in an April 2024 deadly armed confrontation that killed a Chilean police officer; February and June 2024 kidnappings for extortion; and a March 2024 attempted kidnapping, among other offenses.

In 2023, Gámez Salas was removed from the United States to Venezuela for having entered the United States illegally. He subsequently illegally reentered the United States - where he was found in December 2024 - and was prosecuted for human smuggling by the Val Verde County District Attorney's Office in Texas. He was convicted in February 2025, after which he was indicted in the Southern District of Texas for illegally reentering the United States.

He pleaded guilty to the illegal reentry charge in April 2025 and was serving his prison sentence in the Central District of California when he was arrested on the extradition warrant. Gámez Salas is also subject to an order of removal to Venezuela, which does not extradite its own nationals.

On Wednesday, the United States Marshals Service executed the provisional arrest warrant by transferring Gámez Salas from Federal Bureau of Prisons custody to its custody in the Central District of California. He made his initial appearance on Wednesday for his initial court appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles F. Eick in Los Angeles and was remanded into federal custody.

Assistant United States Attorney John J. Lulejian of the Criminal Division and Justice Department Trial Attorneys Reena T. Mittelman and Ruxandra Barbulescu of the Justice Department's Office of International Affairs are handling the Gámez Salas extradition matter.

Previously, in September 2025, the United States extradited to Chile another alleged TdA member, Edgar Javier Benitez Rubio, who was charged in Chile with multiple offenses arising from this same kidnapping and murder of the former Venezuelan Lieutenant. That extradition matter was handled by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Indiana and the Justice Department's Office of International Affairs.