Children rescued after Texas kidnapping, murder connected to Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang
Police have arrested three individuals linked to Tren de Aragua who were allegedly involved in the kidnapping and murder of a Texas man whose body was found in August.
The body of Nilzult Petit, 33, was discovered in Irving, Texas with a single gunshot wound to the head on August 24. Officers located Petit's body and later found two young children, reportedly related to Petit, wandering alongside the IH-35E highway service road.
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Officers say these children were left on the side of the road after Petit was allegedly executed by suspects linked to the transnational Tren de Aragua gang, according to reporting from FOX 4 Dallas.
According to a police release, four Venezuelan nationals allegedly kidnapped Petit and his two young relatives, taking them to an apartment in Farmers Branch, Texas. Investigators report that the suspects executed Petit and then abandoned the children on a nearby service road.
Farmers Branch police identified and apprehended three suspects involved in this case: 38-year-old Ehiker Alexander Morales Mendoza, 25-year-old Carlos Luis Zambrano Bolivar, and 22-year-old Jhonata Nahin Toro Gonzalez. The suspects face charges of capital murder and two counts of aggravated kidnapping.
Authorities are still on the lookout for a fourth suspect, Jhonny Jesus Martinez Serrano, 29, who remains at large.
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Police discovered that Petit had allegedly been working with the suspects in an ATM theft scheme. When Petit reportedly failed to pay his co-conspirators, they retaliated by kidnapping both him and the children.
Two of the suspects, Bolivar and Gonzalez, were apprehended by ICE agents in Aurora, Colorado, while Mendoza was taken into custody in New Mexico by agents from Homeland Security. Aurora, Colorado has been linked to Tren de Aragua gang activity since August, when surveillance footage went viral from an apartment building overrun by the criminal outfit.
Tren de Aragua is based in Venezuela but has recently expanded its operations to the United States, including drug and human trafficking.
Officials with the Farmer's Branch PD indicated that the suspects as well as Petit are affiliated with Tren de Aragua, although these crimes were not specifically gang-related per a release.
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Bolivar, Gonzalez, and Mendoza are awaiting extradition from Colorado and New Mexico, respectively.
Anyone with information about Serrano’s whereabouts is asked to contact the Farmers Branch Police Department at (972) 919-1406 or via email at pdinfoandtips@farmersbranchtx.gov and can remain anonymous.