Homeland Security arrests 2 Tren de Aragua members in Aurora linked to Texas murder

DENVER (KDVR) — Two men alleged to be members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua were arrested by officials in Aurora during September for the August murder of Nilzuly Enrique Arneaud-Petit, 33, in Farmers Branch, Texas.

Homeland Security Investigations reported on Nov. 1 that Carl Luis Zambrano-Bolivar, 26, and Jhonata Nahin Toro Gonzalez, 22, were arrested on Sept. 26 in Aurora by Denver's Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Enforcement and Removal Operations team.

The arrests are in connection with a third individual, 38-year-old Ehiker Morales Mendoza, who was arrested by federal law enforcement on Oct. 11 in Las Cruces, New Mexico, also on suspicion of the murder of Arneaud-Petit.

HSI said all three were arrested in connection to capital murder and aggravated kidnapping, and said the three men are illegally present in the U.S. They are expected to be extradited to Texas where they will face prosecution, according to HSI.

A fourth suspect, 29-year-old Jhonny Jesus Martinez Serrano, is still wanted by authorities.

Texas murder started with body found on roadway

According to the Farmers Branch Police Department, officers were notified at about 3:40 a.m. on Aug. 24 of a body lying in the 1100 block of Valley View Lane. The man was later identified at Arneaud-Petit and had a single gunshot wound to the head.

Police said that while at the scene, they were notified of two juveniles possibly related to the victim found walking on a service road in Lewisville, which is about 10 miles away. After responding to the location, Farmers Branch and Lewisville police officers learned Arneaud-Petit and the two juveniles had been "forcibly taken by several unknown suspects from an apartment complex ... in Dallas around 12:30 a.m."

The juveniles said the suspects drove Andreau-Petit and them to the location in Farmers Branch, where the suspects shot and killed the 33-year-old man, according to Farmers Branch police. The juveniles said the suspects fled the area in a sedan with the juveniles, before releasing them on the service road in Lewisville.

The Farmers Branch Police Department reported that Andreau-Petit was an associate of the suspects, "and allegedly involved in a complex ATM theft operation targeting several locations nationwide." Detectives said that Andreau-Petit was accused of withholding money from other group members, leading to a confrontation.

The gang members allegedly then forced Andreau-Petit and the two juveniles out of the apartment and to where Andreau-Petit was eventually murdered.

The agency said that on Sept. 26, Farmers Branch detectives traveled to Aurora to interview Zambrano-Bolivar and Gonzalez, who were in ICE custody. They have since been charged with capital murder and aggravated kidnapping, the agency said.