Police have arrested a Venezuelan kidnap and murder suspect in Doral who they say is linked to Tren de Aragua, Venezuela’s largest criminal organization that operates in several countries in South America and the United States.
Miami-Dade’s Turner Guilford Knight (TGK) remains in jail, allegedly charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping and robbery, among other charges, of a man found dead inside his Toyota 4Runner on Tuesday, Nov. 28. , in Doral, near the airport.
The victim, Jose Luis Sanchez Varela, 48, was found dead inside the vehicle near Northwest 28th Street at 37th Avenue, according to Miami-Dade Police. Jewelery thefts were also reported earlier. and money on his property in Doral.
The suspect, who was arrested on Tuesday and appeared in court today, has been identified as 23-year-old Urwin Salazar Maita and a judge presented him with the charges this morning.
According to an arrest warrant, Sanchez Valera went to a Miami hotel on the night of Nov. 27 to meet a woman.
Hotel surveillance video shows the victim leaving the hotel and getting into his Toyota 4Runner pickup truck when three suspects dressed in dark clothing exit the silver sedan and physically remove him from the driver’s seat, according to the warrant.
Sanchez Valera was forced into the back seat of his vehicle while the suspects fled, arrest warrants say.
Hours later, the warrant states, a home invasion and robbery was reported at Sanchez Valera’s apartment in the 6400 block of NW 102 Path in Doral.
According to an arrest warrant, two armed men entered Sanchez Valera’s apartment, demanded jewelry from her roommate and took a safe from the victim’s room. They later fled in a silver sedan.
After the robbery, the roommate contacted the victim’s son, who was able to track Sanchez Valera’s location through an app on his phone, the arrest warrant states.
Sanchez Valera’s “blood-spattered” 4Runner was found at Northwest 28th Street and 37th Avenue with his body in the back seat. His hands and feet were bound, the arrest warrant said.
A medical examiner later determined that Sanchez Valera died of asphyxiation and ruled the death a homicide, the order states.
Sanchez’s roommate recognized the woman she was visiting at the hotel and was able to identify one of the men in the apartment invasion as an acquaintance from her native Venezuela, according to an arrest warrant.
According to the arrest warrant, he also reported that during the apartment invasion, one of the suspects told him he was from the violent Venezuelan gang “Train de Aragua.”
This information has not been confirmed by the authorities.
Investigators were able to identify Salazar Maita as a suspect in the crime because fingerprints taken from 4Runner matched him, and cell phone data showed he was at the hotel, the arrest warrant states.
Salazar Maita, who lives in Pompano Beach, was booked into a Miami-Dade jail Tuesday and was in court Wednesday, where he was ordered held without bail and a public defender was appointed.
Police have not said if other suspects are being sought or if other arrests have been made in connection with the case.
