Nixon Azuaje-Pérez’s case involved a local evidence-tampering charge and a federal immigration action. A gang affiliation figured in the accusations, but authorities did not establish that he belonged to Tren de Aragua, according to reporting by KUNC and Sentinel Colorado.
The local case began after a shooting
Aurora police responded to the Aspen Grove Apartments at 1568 Nome St. at about 4:30 a.m. on July 28, 2024, after reports of gunfire. Azuaje-Pérez and his older brother, Dixon, picked up spent casings and threw them into rocks below, away from the area near their front door. Police said the brothers were not involved in the shooting, but officers saw them handling the casings. Both were booked into Adams County Jail on evidence-tampering charges connected to an attempted homicide, according to Colorado Public Radio and KUNC.
Aurora police initially identified Nixon and Dixon as suspected Tren de Aragua members. KUNC reported that police later said they had no evidence tying the brothers to the gang. An ICE spokesperson wrote on October 18, 2024, that the brothers had not been linked to Tren de Aragua or another specific gang at that time, the Sentinel reported. In March 2025, federal authorities accused Nixon of belonging to Tren de Aragua before sending him to El Salvador; that accusation was not proven, CPR reported.
Aurora’s gang debate entered national politics
The arrest unfolded amid national attention on claims about gang activity in Aurora. Claims that Tren de Aragua had taken over La Nome and other apartment complexes with the same landlords became part of that debate, CPR reported. A New York Times Magazine investigation reported that about 40,000 Venezuelans had arrived in the Denver area over the preceding two years, with arrivals peaking in January 2024. Donald Trump named Aurora during the September 10, 2024, debate with Kamala Harris and returned to the city on October 11, where he promoted a mass-deportation plan he called Operation Aurora, the investigation reported. KUNC described the brothers’ case as part of the wider political dispute.
City leaders disagreed about the scale of the gang threat. Claims that Tren de Aragua had taken over the Edge at Lowry apartment complex were disputed, and Mayor Mike Coffman eventually attributed the problems to mismanagement, according to the New York Times Magazine. The same investigation reported that Venezuelan resident Oswaldo José Dabion Araujo died after a shooting at the Edge at Lowry in August 2024. The Times reported that suspects seen in a viral video were among those arrested.
Federal custody and release
In March 2025, Azuaje-Pérez was among hundreds of Venezuelan men sent by the Trump administration to El Salvador’s CECOT prison, CPR reported. He was released in July 2025 and later settled in Salaverry, Peru, according to CPR. His case is also the subject of The Whisper Game, a podcast co-produced by CPR, Latino USA, and Futuro Media.
