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A Colombian national and suspected member of the gang Tren de Aragua has been arrested and is awaiting extradition to South Florida to face charges in the kidnapping and killing of a Doral man.
Yorvi Jose Arenas Lezama, also known as “El Nene,” is wanted for participating in the kidnapping, murder and home invasion of 43-year-old Jose Luis Sanchez-Valera, the chief of the country’s police force said in a post on X. He joins two others accused of the violent crime.
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Colombian authorities said Sanchez-Valera was tricked into going to a hotel on Nov. 27, 2023, where he was gagged and tortured in order for the suspects to steal his belongings from his residence. The suspects then allegedly killed the victim and left his body abandoned inside a vehicle.
¡Cayó ‘El Barbero’ del ‘Tren de Aragua’! En el marco del horizonte institucional de la #CooperaciónInternacional, en Cali capturamos al extraditable Yorvi José Arenas Lezama, alias ‘El Nene’, integrante de este Grupo Terrorista Global, solicitado por la Corte Distrital del Sur de… pic.twitter.com/lMCEdtIkj5
— General William René Salamanca Ramírez (@DirectorPolicia) February 3, 2025
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Arenas Lezama will be facing homicide and robbery charges in the U.S. after being arrested in Cali, Colombia, where he had been “transforming his physical appearance and posing as a barber,” Colombian officials said.
According to an arrest warrant, Sanchez-Valera had gone to a hotel in Miami to meet a woman the night of Nov. 27, 2023.
Surveillance video from the hotel showed him leaving and getting into his Toyota 4Runner as three suspects in dark clothing emerged from a silver sedan and physically removed him from the driver's seat, the warrant said.
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Sanchez-Valera was forcibly placed in the back seat of his SUV as the suspects fled, the warrant said.
Hours later, a home invasion robbery was reported at his apartment in the 6400 block of Northwest 102 Path in Doral.
According to the warrant, two armed males entered Sanchez-Valera's home and demanded jewelry from his roommate. They also took a safe from his bedroom and then fled in the silver sedan.
After the home invasion robbery, the roommate contacted Sanchez-Valera's son, who was able to track Sanchez-Valera's location with a phone locator app.
The victim's "blood splattered" 4Runner was discovered at Northwest 28th Street and Northwest 37th Avenue with his body in the back seat. He had his hands and feet bound, the warrant said.
A medical examiner later determined Sanchez-Valera had been choked to death and ruled the death a homicide, the warrant said.
Two men currently face charges in the violent crime: Julio Cesar Hernandez-Montero and Yurwin Salazar-Maita were indicted on first-degree murder charges in Sept. 2024.
