In the autumn of 2024, a Denver home became the site of a prolonged and calculated act of cruelty — one that revealed how transnational criminal networks can extend their reach into the quietest American neighborhoods. Three Venezuelan nationals, acting under the direction of the Tren de Aragua gang's international leadership, held a man captive for days, torturing and mutilating him to extort his family abroad. Their 20-year federal sentences mark not an ending, but a chapter in the ongoing reckoning between American law enforcement and the organized violence that crosses borders alongside th
Three Venezuelan nationals sentenced to 20 years for Tren de Aragua kidnapping, torture in Denver
Victim suffered days of torture including strangulation, waterboarding, and amputation of his right pinky finger; escaped and reported the crime to police.
They filmed themselves strangling him until he lost consciousness
Mark
Why did these men target this particular person? Was it random, or did they know something about him beforehand?
Mimi
They knew exactly who he was. They were his roommates, and they discovered he had family connections to Venezuelan law enforcement. That's what made him a target—they saw him as someone whose family would have money and would pay to get him back.
Luke
So the source says they "uncovered" his family's law enforcement ties. Do we know how they found out? Was it something he told them, or did they investigate him?
Mimi
The reporting doesn't specify the mechanism. We know they learned it and acted on it, but the exact discovery isn't detailed.
Mark
And the Tren de Aragua involvement—were these three men already gang members, or did they become involved because of this kidnapping?
Mimi
They were acting under direction from international TdA leaders. They consulted with gang commanders about the kidnapping and shared the torture videos with them. So they were operating within the gang's structure, taking orders from above.
Luke
That's important to note: they didn't act independently. This wasn't three roommates deciding to extort someone. This was a coordinated operation with command structure.
Mark
What strikes me most is that the police came to the house and didn't find him. How close did that come to ending differently?
Mimi
Very close. The victim was too afraid to signal for help when officers were there. If the men hadn't fled after that visit, he might still be captive.
Luke
And we should note: the police conducted a "limited visual search." We don't know what a more thorough search would have revealed, but the victim was hidden or the search wasn't intensive enough to find him.
Mark
The finger amputation—was that the breaking point for him, or did he escape before that happened?
Mimi
He escaped after the men fled following the police visit. So he endured the strangulation, the waterboarding, the threats, and the amputation all before he got out.
Luke
All of that is documented in the recordings the gang made themselves. That's not witness testimony or inference—it's their own evidence.
Le Pouls
- A man renting a room in a Denver home was targeted because of his father's ties to Venezuelan law enforcement — a connection that made him, in the eyes of Tren de Aragua, a profitable hostage.
- For days, his captors filmed themselves strangling, waterboarding, and beating him, transmitting the footage to his wife and to gang commanders abroad as proof of their willingness to escalate.
- When the family refused to pay, gang leadership ordered an amputation — and one captor used pliers to sever the victim's right pinky finger, recording the act as a new instrument of terror.
- Denver police responded to a welfare call at the residence but found no one in distress; the victim, still inside and too frightened to surface, waited until his captors fled before walking himself to a police station the next morning.
- Three men now face 20-year federal sentences, a fourth defendant remains indicted for broader gang operations, and federal prosecutors have pledged to continue dismantling Tren de Aragua's presence across Colorado.
In the autumn of 2024, a Denver home became the site of a prolonged and calculated act of cruelty — one that revealed how transnational criminal networks can extend their reach into the quietest American neighborhoods. Three Venezuelan nationals, acting under the direction of the Tren de Aragua gang's international leadership, held a man captive for days, torturing and mutilating him to extort his family abroad. Their 20-year federal sentences mark not an ending, but a chapter in the ongoing reckoning between American law enforcement and the organized violence that crosses borders alongside the people who flee them.
In October 2024, a Venezuelan man renting a room in a South Denver home became the target of a kidnapping operation after his captors learned his father had ties to Venezuelan law enforcement. Darwin Veliz-Gonzalez, Jefferson Balza-Delfin, and Yender Enrique Campos-Malave — all Venezuelan nationals and members of the Tren de Aragua criminal organization — bound him with rope and held him for days with little food or water, carrying out a methodical campaign of violence under the direction of gang leaders operating internationally.
The abuse was both brutal and deliberate. The men filmed themselves strangling the victim into unconsciousness, submerging his head in a bucket of water, threatening him with firearms, and striking him with a pistol. The recordings were sent to his wife as ransom leverage, while the footage was also shared with Tren de Aragua commanders abroad, who consulted on how to extract payment from a family that refused to comply. When the ransom went unanswered, a gang leader suggested amputation. Balza-Delfin used pliers to sever the victim's right pinky finger — and that, too, was recorded and transmitted.
Denver police responded to a welfare call at the residence on October 16, but a limited search turned up no one in distress. The victim, still inside and too frightened to reveal himself, stayed hidden. After his captors fled, he walked into a Denver police station the following morning, reported the kidnapping, and showed officers his severed finger.
All three men were convicted and sentenced to 20 years in federal prison. U.S. Attorney Peter McNeilly described the case as a direct window into what Tren de Aragua has been doing inside Colorado communities, vowing continued prosecutions. Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas praised the victim for coming forward despite his immigration status, calling it an act of courage essential to accountability. A fourth defendant, Brawins Dominique Suarez Villegas, remains separately indicted for his role in the kidnapping and for participation in a broader TdA criminal enterprise spanning robbery, extortion, money laundering, and drug trafficking. Federal authorities say the prosecutions will continue.
Three Venezuelan nationals are now serving 20-year federal sentences for a kidnapping and torture operation that unfolded inside a Denver home in October 2024. Darwin Veliz-Gonzalez, Jefferson Balza-Delfin, and Yender Enrique Campos-Malave carried out the attack after discovering that their roommate—a man renting a room in the South Hazel Court residence—had family ties to Venezuelan law enforcement. What followed was a methodical campaign of violence orchestrated at the direction of Tren de Aragua leaders operating internationally.
The captors bound their victim with rope and held him for days with minimal food and water. They filmed themselves strangling him with the same rope until he lost consciousness, submerging his head repeatedly in a bucket of water for half a minute or longer, threatening him with firearms, and striking him with a pistol. The recordings were sent directly to his wife as leverage, demanding ransom from the family back in Venezuela. The men also shared the footage with international Tren de Aragua commanders, consulting with gang leadership about how to extract money from a family that initially refused to pay.
When ransom demands went unanswered, one gang leader made an explicit suggestion: amputate a finger to increase pressure on the family. Balza-Delfin used pliers to sever the victim's right pinky finger. This act, too, was recorded and transmitted as evidence of the gang's willingness to mutilate.
On October 16, 2024, Denver police responded to a welfare call reporting a kidnapping at the residence. Officers conducted a limited search but found no one in distress—the victim, still inside the home, was too frightened to reveal himself. After the police left, three of the men fled the house. The victim seized the opportunity and walked into a Denver police station the following morning, reporting the kidnapping and assault and displaying his severed finger to officers.
U.S. Attorney Peter McNeilly framed the case as emblematic of Tren de Aragua's operations within Colorado communities. "This is what Tren de Aragua was doing in our community," he said, pledging continued prosecution of gang members throughout the state. Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas commended the victim for reporting the crime despite his immigration status, calling the act of coming forward essential to holding predators accountable.
A fourth defendant, Brawins Dominique Suarez Villegas—known as "Chino San Vicente"—remains separately indicted for his role in the kidnapping and torture, as well as for participation in a broader Tren de Aragua criminal enterprise spanning robbery, extortion, kidnapping, money laundering, and drug trafficking between May 2024 and March 2025. The FBI's Denver Field Office and local police investigated the case as part of a coordinated effort to dismantle the Venezuelan gang's U.S. presence. Federal authorities have signaled that prosecutions will continue as long as Tren de Aragua members operate within Colorado.
Citations marquantes
This is what Tren de Aragua was doing in our community. Colorado is safer with these violent criminals in federal prison for the next 20 years.— U.S. Attorney Peter McNeilly
I applaud the victim of this heinous crime, and all victims, regardless of immigration status, for reporting criminal behaviors and helping us arrest those who prey on our community members.— Denver Police Chief Ron Thomas
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