WILLEMSTAD, FALCÓN – Venezuelan authorities have arrested a 60-year-old man in connection with a human trafficking and criminal association case tied to the disappearance of dozens of migrants who attempted to reach Curaçao by boat in 2019. The arrest was carried out by the Anti-Extortion and Kidnapping Group (GAES 13 Falcón), following a court order issued by the Single Trial Court presided over by Judge Diana Parra. The development was reported by NotiFalcon.
According to the report, the suspect was detained on February 7 on Calle 3 in the Colombia Norte sector of La Vela, in the Colina municipality of Venezuela’s Falcón state. He was subsequently transferred to the GAES headquarters in Tucacas, Laurencio Silva municipality, where the judicial proceedings in the case are being handled.
The arrest is linked to the long-running investigation into the disappearance of 33 people who departed by boat from Punta Agüide, in the municipality of Píritu, in 2019. The group was attempting to enter Curaçao irregularly when the vessel vanished at sea.
Authorities say the boat left with 34 people on board. One of the passengers, identified as 45-year-old Elio Ramones, was later found dead on the coast of Curaçao. The fate of the remaining passengers has never been clarified.
Since then, families of the missing have repeatedly demanded justice and transparency, calling on authorities to determine what happened to their relatives and to hold those responsible accountable.
The case remains one of the most painful and unresolved migration tragedies linked to irregular sea crossings to Curaçao, highlighting the ongoing risks associated with human trafficking networks operating in the region.