Bogotá authorities prosecute eight for murder of community teacher

Colombian authorities have moved to prosecute eight Venezuelan citizens linked to the ‘Tren de Aragua’ criminal organization for the murder of teacher Kevin Santiago Ángel in Bogotá. The homicide, which occurred in May 2026, is believed to have been motivated by the victim's community work involving drug prevention and sports programs for youth in the Kennedy district, which allegedly interfered with the gang's illicit finances.

Investigators determined that the suspects lured the teacher to a property in the Galán neighborhood, where he was tortured and killed. The perpetrators subsequently dismembered his body, placed it in a suitcase, and abandoned it in the El Tintal sector.

According to the Fiscalía General de la Nación, the gang leader ordered the attack from a prison, while an individual known as ‘Alondra’ gained the victim's trust via social media to arrange the meeting. Other suspects, identified as ‘Mario Bro’ and ‘Luis Panadero,’ provided the location used to detain the victim. The suspects face charges of aggravated homicide, torture, forced disappearance, conspiracy to commit a crime, and concealment of evidence, though they have not accepted the charges.