REPORT: Venezuelan national accused of claiming control over Arizona community, threatening residents:

January 25, 2026

From Fox News: A Venezuelan national accused of threatening Arizona residents at gunpoint while claiming control over part of a Maricopa County community is facing multiple felony charges, including terrorism, authorities said.

Arizona Department of Public Safety investigators allege Javier Enrique Erazo-Zuniga, 27, claimed control over part of Maricopa and threatened residents with deadly weapons in an effort to extort money, according to reporting by InMaricopa and statements from state authorities.

DPS spokesperson Bart Graves told InMaricopa detectives began investigating Erazo-Zuniga in December after receiving information that he was “claiming Hidden Valley in Maricopa as his territory and demanding money from victims.”

Investigators allege Erazo-Zuniga was tied to a series of violent incidents involving residents who were targeted at their homes. In one 2024 incident, authorities say he put a victim in a headlock and held a knife to the person’s neck, leaving a cut. Last month, investigators allege he waited at the end of another victim’s driveway and held the victim at gunpoint.

Erazo-Zuniga has now been arrested and booked into the Pinal County Jail, where he is being held on a $250,000 secured bond. He was later indicted by a Pinal County grand jury.

According to DPS Erazo-Zuniga has b een charged with assisting a criminal street gang and terrorism, but authorities say additional charges could be forthcoming, potentially at the federal level.