The bodies of three people connected to Tren de Aragua were found in August. They are suspected of having a hand in kidnapping and killing a man from Texas.
On August 24, the body of 33-year-old Nilzult Petit was found in Irving, Texas. He had been shot once in the head. After finding Petit’s body, police later found two young children, who were said to be connected to Petit, wandering along the IH-35E highway service road.
FOX 4 Dallas reports that police say these kids were left on the side of the road after Petit was reportedly killed by people connected to the international Tren de Aragua gang.
A police release says that four people from Venezuela took Petit and his two young cousins and took them to an apartment in Farmers Branch, Texas. Investigators say the suspects killed Petit and then left the children on a service road nearby.
Farmers Branch police found and arrested three people they think are involved in this case: Ehiker Alexander Morales Mendoza, 38, Carlos Luis Zambrano Bolivar, 25, and Jhonata Nahin Toro Gonzalez, 22. They are being charged with two counts of criminal kidnapping and capital murder.
A fourth suspect, Jhonny Jesus Martinez Serrano, 29, is still on the run and being sought by police.
Police found out that Petit was working with the suspects on a plan to steal money from an ATM. Petit is said to have not paid his criminal partners, so they took him and the children as punishment.
Bolivar and Gonzalez, two of the suspects, were caught by ICE agents in Aurora, Colorado. Mendoza, the third suspect, was caught in New Mexico by Homeland Security agents. Tren de Aragua gang activity has been linked to Aurora, Colorado since August when security video from an apartment building taken over by the gang went viral.
Source: Children rescued after Texas kidnapping, murder connected to Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang
