Chile Jails Tren de Aragua Leader for Life in Landmark Tarapacá Verdict

Chile’s Tribunal Oral en lo Penal de Iquique sentenced Carlos González Vaca, known as “Estrella,” to presidio perpetuo calificado after finding him guilty of kidnapping with homicide, migrant smuggling and human trafficking for sexual exploitation, among other charges. The court also imposed life sentences or long prison terms on 11 additional members of the Venezuelan crime syndicate Tren de Aragua, with combined penalties exceeding 300 years. Prosecutors said the group operated in the northern Tarapacá Region between 2021 and 2022, controlling border crossings and demanding payments—known as “vacunas”—from people conducting lawful or illicit activities in territory the gang claimed. According to the judgment, victims who resisted were abducted, mutilated or killed. The three-month trial featured more than 1,000 documentary exhibits, testimony from 224 witnesses and 38 expert reports. Regional prosecutor Trinidad Steinert called the ruling the first major conviction of an established transnational criminal organization in Chile and said it underscores the state’s control over the country’s borders.