Tren de Aragua’s ‘Johan Petrica’: Fugitive and Potential Heir

The killing of Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, alias “Niño Guerrero,” leaves Yohan José Romero, alias “Johan Petrica,” as the last original Tren de Aragua leader still at large. 

Niño Guerrero was killed in June 2026 during joint US-Venezuelan operations near Las Claritas, a gold mining hub in Bolívar state where he had reportedly taken refuge. Another founder, Larry Amaury Álvarez Núñez, alias “Larry Changa,” remains behind bars in Colombia.

Petrica has the pedigree to claim leadership. His criminal career began inside Venezuela’s prison system. In Tocorón prison, Petrica, Niño Guerrero, and Larry Changa helped establish Tren de Aragua as a prison gang that would expand far beyond the prison walls.

SEE ALSO: Read the full profile of Johan Petrica’s criminal career

Until the recent military incursions that killed Niño Guerrero, Petrica’s existing power base was strong. He led Las Claritas Sindicato since 2017, one of the strongest mining gangs in southern Venezuela, which controls a strategic mining enclave in Bolívar state, including access to one of the world’s most lucrative gold deposits. Under the mining gang’s rule, artisanal miners, merchants, sex workers, cooks, and other service providers were forced to pay taxes or hand over a portion of their earnings. 

The recent US-Venezuela military deployment to Las Claritas that killed Niño Guerrero likely ruptured old arrangements between the Venezuelan government and the mining gang that allowed the mining gang to operate with relative impunity.

Not only will command over Las Claritas power base be difficult, but also taking over Tren de Aragua’s regional operations.

SEE ALSO: Tren de Aragua Profile

Tren de Aragua has been under pressure since Venezuelan security forces raided Tocorón prison, the group’s longtime headquarters, in 2023. Across South America, authorities have arrested leaders, dismantled cells, and weakened the group’s once-expanding transnational network. The United States has its sights set on Petrica, sanctioning him in 2025 for overseeing Las Claritas’ illegal mining operations and trafficking military-grade weapons used in Venezuela. Authorities have not reported Petrica’s arrest or death since they made inroads into his criminal mining fiefdom, fueling suspicions that he escaped.

That makes Petrica a fugitive and a potential heir—a mining boss with deep Tren de Aragua roots facing the task of leading a deeply fragmented criminal organization.