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Migrant man arrested by feds at Bronx apartment faces fugitive charge, prosecutors say
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Published Jan 30, 2025
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Douglas Rissing / Getty Images
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Published Jan 30, 2025
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Federal prosecutors say a Venezuelan migrant arrested in the Bronx this week is a fugitive and gang member involved in an armed home invasion that garnered national headlines in Colorado last year.
Anderson Zambrano-Pacheco, 26, was among at least 20 people reportedly detained by federal officials early Tuesday in a string of enforcement actions in New York City. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem joined law enforcement officers as they arrested Zambrano-Pacheco on warrants from Colorado related to the home invasion last August — and tweeted photos and videos of him being taken into custody before sunrise.
A criminal complaint filed in Manhattan federal court alleges Zambrano-Pacheco was a fugitive in possession of a firearm and ammunition, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. The federal charge is separate from the charges he is facing in Colorado, which include kidnapping, criminal extortion and menacing.
Zambrano-Pacheco’s attorney Jacqueline Cistaro declined to comment on Thursday. U.S. Magistrate Judge Jennifer Willis ordered him held without bail after his arraignment, prosecutors said.
The complaint states Zambrano-Pacheco was a member of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang that law enforcement officials say has spread to the United States. He was allegedly on the run for months following an Aug. 18 burglary at an apartment building in Aurora, Colorado, where six men entered an apartment with handguns and an assault rifle. Surveillance video from the incident went viral.
Authorities identified defendant Anderson Zambrano-Pacheco, 26, in surveillance footage of a home invasion in Aurora, Colorado, according to prosecutors.
U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York
Local news outlets reported that authorities said the group beat and stabbed the apartment’s residents, who were also Venezuelan immigrants, after kidnapping them and taking them to a vacant unit in the complex. The two victims were eventually released with injuries, according to news reports.
Colorado law enforcement officials later identified Zambrano-Pacheco as one of the men in the surveillance footage, prosecutors said. In September, a Colorado judge issued a warrant for his arrest on burglary and menacing charges, but he had already fled the state, according to the complaint. A second warrant for his arrest, on the other state charges, was issued in October.
Last week, a federal judge in New York authorized a warrant for law enforcement officials to track Zambrano-Pacheco’s cellphone, prosecutors said. Data from the cellphone on Tuesday showed it was located in an apartment on Ogden Avenue near West 170th Street.
Prosecutors said federal agents knocked on the apartment’s door around 6 a.m. and found Zambrano-Pacheco and his girlfriend in one of the three bedrooms. According to the complaint, the agents spotted a loaded pistol in the top drawer of a nearby dresser, which was left ajar.
The gun prosecutors say federal agents found in the same room as Zambrano-Pacheco in a Bronx apartment on Jan. 28, 2025.
U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York
Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday said the NYPD coordinated with federal officials on the arrest as part of a Homeland Security task force. While he did not name Zambrano-Pacheco, Adams said the individual was “hiding” in the city and was wanted on multiple charges in New York and Colorado.
Two other alleged fugitives were arrested in the Bronx on Nov. 27 in connection with the Aurora home invasion, according to the federal complaint, which did not name them.
Neighbors on Ogden Avenue on Tuesday morning said they did not know Zambrano-Pacheco well, but said he was staying with a family that included children. No one in the unit that agents raided earlier that morning answered when a Gothamist reporter knocked.
Tagged
new york city
public safety
bronx
immigration
Brittany Kriegstein
Brittany Kriegstein covers all breaking news around New York City, with a focus on crime and gun violence. Got a tip? Email Brittany at [email protected].
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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