Colombia’s Attorney General’s Office announced on Tuesday, September 1, that it had arrested eight people suspected of belonging to Tren de Aragua, the Venezuelan-origin criminal organization now operating across several Latin American countries, in connection with the murder of university professor Kevin Santiago Ángel in Bogotá.
According to investigators, the professor was killed in May after members of the gang allegedly tricked him into traveling to the location where he was later attacked and murdered. Authorities say new video evidence, some of it circulated on social media and reviewed by local news outlets, helped identify those now believed to be responsible for the crime.
The eight suspects are expected to appear before a control-of-guarantees judge — a Colombian judicial figure who reviews the legality of arrests and formally presents charges early in a criminal case. Prosecutors intend to charge them with conspiracy to commit crimes and aggravated homicide, both serious offenses under Colombian law.
The case has drawn significant public attention in Bogotá, both because of the victim’s profession and because it highlights the expanding reach of Tren de Aragua, a gang that originated in a Venezuelan prison and has since been linked to violent crimes throughout the region.
To read the full original report and see the newly released videos, check out the story from El Tiempo.
Source: Hipótesis del asesinato del profesor Kevin Ángel en Bogotá: nuevos videos muestran a presuntos responsables (eltiempo.com). English version produced with AI assistance.
Image: Chris Yarzab, BY 2.0 (via Openverse).