Colombian authorities captured one of the top leaders of the violent Tren de Aragua gang in Bogota on August 27, 2026, in an operation that had help from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The man, identified as Luis Saul Perez Nieto, is accused of running weapons and drug networks that helped the gang expand into Peru.

Perez Nieto, known by the aliases "Paez" and "Nairobi," was arrested in the Fontibon area of Bogota. DEA Administrator Terrance Cole praised the arrest and credited Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella and Colombian security forces for pulling it off.

The capture matters for South Texas because Tren de Aragua, a gang that started inside a Venezuelan prison, has spread into Texas cities and the Rio Grande Valley in recent years. Federal prosecutors in South Texas have already charged gang members with smuggling drugs through the region, and state officials have named the gang a top security threat along the border.

Investigators say Perez Nieto was one of the main Tren de Aragua leaders operating in Peru, where the gang built extortion rings, ran drug corridors and carried out targeted killings. Peru, along with Argentina and Ecuador, has formally labeled Tren de Aragua a terrorist organization, a designation that lets those governments use tougher laws and harsher sentences against its members.

"This arrest hits TdA where it hurts most and shows what determined partnerships can accomplish," Cole said in a statement, using the gang's common shorthand name, TdA.

U.S. Southern Command chief Francis L. Donovan and Colombian Defense Minister Jorge Mora also took part in announcing the arrest. Colombian officials say Perez Nieto is wanted on U.S. warrants tied to international arms trafficking, drug trafficking through key smuggling corridors and extortion schemes that helped fund the gang's operations across South America.

The arrest is part of a broader crackdown by the Colombian government, which launched a 100 day security push earlier this year built around 15 targeted "beta operations" aimed at capturing leaders of armed groups in strategic zones of the country. Tren de Aragua has become one of the top targets of that campaign, alongside other criminal organizations operating in Colombia.

Tren de Aragua began inside a Venezuelan prison called Tocoron and grew into one of the most feared criminal networks in Latin America under founder Hector "Nino" Guerrero. As millions of Venezuelans fled the country's economic collapse, the gang followed migration routes into Colombia, Peru, Chile, Ecuador and eventually the United States, setting up cells in cities far from its home base.

In the U.S., federal prosecutors have charged Tren de Aragua members with kidnappings that led to deaths, racketeering tied to murder and large scale drug trafficking. In the Southern District of Texas, which covers the Rio Grande Valley and Houston, prosecutors indicted gang members in 2025 on charges of smuggling cocaine into the country from Venezuela and Colombia, with sentences that could reach life in federal prison.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has repeatedly pointed to Tren de Aragua as a reason for tougher border enforcement, and the Texas Department of Public Safety has tracked the gang's expansion into the state for several years. Immigration and gang task forces in South Texas continue to work with federal agencies to identify and arrest suspected members moving through the Valley.

Colombian officials have not said when or where Perez Nieto will face charges, or whether he could be extradited to the United States to answer the federal warrants against him. His capture is likely to be followed by more arrests as investigators use information from the case to trace the gang's networks in Peru and beyond. For now, Colombian and U.S. officials are calling it one of the most significant blows to the gang's leadership so far this year.