This is how a dangerous extraditable capo from the ‘Tren de Aragua’ escaped from La Picota and the Medellín Sijín: he would have paid bribes amounting to $1,000 million

In the middle of the hearing for the imputation of charges against two Inpec guards in Bogotá, the name of a capo from the ‘Tren de Aragua’ was revealed, whom they allegedly helped escape from pavilion 34 of the extraditable – maximum security – section of La Picota prison last April

However, EL TIEMPO established that this is not the first time alias Negro Dago, who is requested for extradition by Peruvian authorities, has evaded the authorities.

This is about Dago Alberto Martínez Méndez, identified as a member of a faction of the ‘Tren de Aragua’ in Peru and who would have criminal contacts in Bogotá and Medellín.

Alias Negro Dago was first captured in 2025 by members of the Dijín and is requested for extradition by Peru for his involvement in the murder of Venezuelan nurse Ericka Elizabeth Hernández Olivares in 2023.

However, after his incarceration in the high-security extraditable pavilion of La Picota, ‘El Negro Dago’ devised a meticulous plan to escape the penitentiary center, which included bribing officials and manipulating service logs.

According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the individual allegedly paid 500 million pesos to José Daniel Yunda Fajardo and Inspector Édgar Alfredo Melo Forero, both Inpec guards, who have already been prosecuted.

“During the corresponding surveillance shift, the defendants allegedly left the laundry door open, omitted the mandatory verification of the inmate during counts, and refrained from activating the escape alert, as well as from recording incidents in the service log,” stated the prosecuting entity.

The Prosecutor’s Office determined that the individual escaped by making a rope with tied sheets.

Subsequently, authorities located him in Medellín during an operation at a hotel in the city center.

Indeed, on May 10, citizens reported that a man forcibly entered a hotel along with 10 other people. When police officers arrived to respond to the call, they realized it was ‘Negro Dago’, who had an active arrest warrant.

The capture report included the testimony of a police officer present during the procedure, who stated that the individual told him he “had enough money to pay for his protection,” and repeatedly offered him 500,000 pesos to be released.

However, he was locked up in the Sijín of Medellín from where he escaped two days later.

On this occasion, he allegedly offered 500 million pesos to a police subintendant who, apparently, helped him with his new escape plan.

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“The officer, who at that time was performing duties as a custodian in the cells of the Criminal Investigation Section, allegedly facilitated the escape of an inmate in exchange for 500 million pesos. The collected evidence indicates that the defendant (the police officer) received and verified instructions related to the delivery of the money to later abandon his surveillance post, a circumstance that was exploited to execute the escape,” reads a statement issued by the Military Criminal Justice, who prosecuted the subintendant.

For now, authorities remain on alert due to the danger posed by the capo of the ‘Tren de Aragua’, of whom there is no trace.

INVESTIGATIVE UNIT

u.investigativa@eltiempo.com

@UinvestigativaET

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