Federal authorities have extradited a Venezuelan national to Chile, where he faces seven criminal charges tied to his alleged leadership of a violent gang cell linked to Tren de Aragua.
Rafael Enrique Gámez Salas, 40, was handed over to Chilean officials on Tuesday. Prosecutors in Chile identify Gámez as a leader of “Los Piratas,” the primary local affiliate of the Venezuelan transnational criminal group. He is charged with directing kidnappings, homicides, and extortions, including the February 2024 abduction and killing of a former Venezuelan military lieutenant in Santiago.
According to Chilean investigators, members of Los Piratas posed as police officers using a car equipped with a blue light and breached the former officer’s apartment with a battering ram. The victim was handcuffed, taken away, and found dead a week later buried under a concrete slab inside a suitcase.
An autopsy determined the cause of death was asphyxia by hanging, with signs of torture and postmortem dismemberment. Chilean authorities allege Gámez coordinated the operation under orders from senior gang leaders abroad.
Chile has formally charged Gámez with criminal association, two counts of extortion, two counts of unjustified firearm discharge, kidnapping resulting in homicide, and kidnapping for extortion. He is also accused of involvement in an April 2024 shootout that killed a Chilean police officer, as well as additional kidnappings in early 2024.
“The United States is not a safe haven for dangerous criminal aliens,” said Attorney General Todd Blanche. “Rafael Enrique Gámez Salas should never have been in our country in the first place, but under the Biden administration, open-border policies left the doors wide open, and hundreds of suspected and convicted Tren de Aragua terrorists poured into this country. Gámez Salas’s extradition is evidence of the strong cooperation with our Chilean partners to combat transnational crime, dismantle foreign terrorist organizations like Tren de Aragua, and hold members accountable for their heinous criminal acts.”
Gámez, also known by aliases including “Turko” and “Adrián Rafael Gámez Finol,” has a prior criminal record in the United States. He was deported to Venezuela in 2023 after entering the country unlawfully. Following a subsequent illegal crossing, Texas authorities convicted him in February 2025 for human smuggling. He later pleaded guilty in federal court to illegal reentry in April 2025.
Chilean authorities filed a provisional arrest warrant while Gámez was serving his federal prison term in California.
“At the time of TdA leader Rafael Enrique Gámez Salas’s arrest on the Chilean extradition charges, he was finishing a sentence here for illegal re-entry into the United States,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Instead of deporting him to Venezuela, which does not extradite its own nationals, he now will be sent to Chile to face charges there that include murder, kidnapping, and extortion. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs worked extensively with Chilean authorities to extradite this defendant and ensure that another violent, illegal alien who came here unlawfully will be punished for breaking our laws and then go to Chile to face the charges levied there. When governments work cross borders together, all communities benefit and become more safe.”
“Thanks to the previous administration’s open borders, a murderous terrorist was allowed to enter our country,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “I commend our law enforcement partners in the United States and Chile for removing this criminal, who will hopefully never see the outside of a prison again.”
Gámez consented to the extradition on June 30, 2026. U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles F. Eick certified the order, and the U.S. Department of State subsequently issued the surrender warrant carried out by the U.S. Marshals Service.
The move marks the second recent transfer of its kind. In September 2025, U.S. officials extradited another alleged Tren de Aragua member, Edgar Javier Benítez Rubio, to Chile to face charges related to the same Venezuelan officer’s murder.
READ: Wisconsin Traveler Facing 20 Years After Illinois Airport Screeners Uncover Illicit Videos
Please make a small donation to the Tampa Free Press to help sustain independent journalism. Your contribution enables us to continue delivering high-quality, local, and national news coverage.
Sign up: Subscribe to our free newsletter for a curated selection of top stories delivered straight to your inbox.
