U.S. Extradites to Chile Most Wanted Alleged Tren de Aragua Leader Charged with Directing Extortions and Fatal Kidnapping

LOS ANGELES - An illegal alien from Venezuela has been extradited 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).

Rafael Enrique Gámez Salas, 40, who was surrendered to Chilean authorities on Tuesday, is accused 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 extradition brings Gámez, 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.

"The United States is not a safe haven for dangerous criminal aliens," said Attorney General Todd Blanche. "Rafael Enrique Gámez Salas should never have been in our country in the first place, but under the Biden administration, open-border policies left the doors wide open, and hundreds of suspected and convicted Tren de Aragua terrorists poured into this country. Gámez Salas's extradition is evidence of the strong cooperation with our Chilean partners to combat transnational crime, dismantle foreign terrorist organizations like Tren de Aragua, and hold members accountable for their heinous criminal acts."

"At the time of TdA leader Rafael Enrique Gámez Salas's arrest on the Chilean extradition charges, he was finishing a sentence here for illegal re-entry into the United States," said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department's Criminal Division. "Instead of deporting him to Venezuela, which does not extradite its own nationals, he now will be sent to Chile to face charges there that include murder, kidnapping, and extortion. The Criminal Division's Office of International Affairs worked extensively with Chilean authorities to extradite this defendant and ensure that another violent, illegal alien who came here unlawfully will be punished for breaking our laws and then go to Chile to face the charges levied there. When governments work cross borders together, all communities benefit and become more safe."

"Thanks to the previous administration's open borders, a murderous terrorist was allowed to enter our country," said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. "I commend our law enforcement partners in the United States and Chile for removing this criminal, who will hopefully never see the outside of a prison again."

Gámez, also known as "Adrián 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 sought Gámez'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.

Chile alleges, among other things, that Gámez, 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, Chile. 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 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, 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 was removed from the United States to Venezuela for having entered the United States illegally. He subsequently illegally reentered the United States 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 Chile's provisional arrest request in this matter. Gámez was also subject to an order of removal to Venezuela, which does not extradite its own nationals.

On June 30, 2026, following Chile's submission of a formal extradition request, Gámez consented to extradition, and United States Magistrate Judge Charles F. Eick for the Central District of California certified his extradition to the Secretary of State. The U.S. Department of State subsequently issued a surrender warrant authorizing Gámez's extradition.

Assistant United States Attorney John J. Lulejian and Trial Attorneys Reena T. Mittelman and Ruxandra Barbulescu of the Justice Department's Office of International Affairs handled this extradition matter.

The United States Marshals Service provided significant assistance in this case and ensured a smooth and safe transfer of custody to Chilean authorities so that Gámez could be transported back to Chile to face trial.

Previously, in September 2025, the United States extradited to Chile another alleged TdA member, Edgar Javier Benítez 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.