Final suspect in Tren de Aragua kidnapping returned to Colorado

The final suspect wanted in connection with the December kidnapping that led to the arrest of Tren de Aragua gang members has been extradited back to Colorado.

Jorman Jose Cuba-Zabala, 26, originally from Venezuela, was arrested in Chicago in April and extradited back last weekend on suspicion of several felonies, including second-degree kidnapping, aggravated robbery, menacing with a deadly weapon and extortion, according to a news release from the Aurora Police Department.

The incident Cuba-Zabala was wanted for took place around 2:30 a.m. on Dec. 17, when officers responded to a report of a kidnapping at The Edge at Lowry Apartments in the 1200 block of Dallas Street. During the kidnapping, two people were taken to a vacant apartment, where they were bound, pistol-whipped and tortured by 12 armed suspects, authorities said.

A spokesperson from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said at the time of the kidnapping that all the detainees were Venezuelan nationals who were living in the U.S. illegally.

Cuba-Zabala was detained on April 28 when police responded to a shoplifting report in Chicago’s Loop, according to the release. The suspect was arrested in connection with felony retail charges for stealing two pairs of sunglass valued at over $800.

The suspect was booked into the Arapahoe County Jail on Oct. 4, where he remains on a $250,000 bond, according to authorities. With Cuba-Zabala’s arrest, all 12 suspects are now in custody and are facing charges in Arapahoe District Court.

The home invasion, kidnapping and torture at the troubled apartment complex in Aurora — perpetuated, the city’s police chief earlier said, by the Venezuelan gang at the center of a national firestorm over illegal immigration — began with a cellphone video showing two women fighting.

That video, the police later said, included “a number of other individuals in and around that apartment complex that were involved in criminal activity.”

The woman who took and shared the video was one of two victims of the kidnapping, according to Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain.

The suspects wanted the phone so they could delete the video, Chamberlain said last year.

In the process, the police chief said, the suspects robbed and assaulted the victims, entered their apartment and stole valuables. They also forced the victims to give them banking information and other financial details, he said.

“This was not a one-case scenario in my opinion,” Chamberlain said. “This was an incident where these victims have been victimized over and over again. I think it’s a situation where these suspects have basically victimized people of their own ethnicity based upon the fact that the immigrant population does not want to come forward or be involved in conversations with law enforcement because they feel that there’s going to be some retribution.”

Chamberlain confirmed that some of the people arrested have been identified as Tren de Aragua members.

Although he did not say how many of the suspects are alleged TdA members, he has “no doubt,” the police chief said, that the Venezuelan prison gang was involved in the incident.

The trans-national gang has a diverse criminal portfolio that includes drug and human trafficking — particularly immigrant women and girls, kidnapping, extortion, and money laundering. T

The investigation into the incident is still ongoing. Anyone with information about the kidnapping is asked to contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867. Tipsters can remain anonymous and could be eligible for a reward of up to $2,000.

Denver Gazette Reporter Kyla Pearce contributed to this report.


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