(First InMaricopa) A Venezuelan national accused by Arizona Department of Public Safety of claiming control over part of Maricopa and threatening residents with deadly weapons to extort money is facing multiple felony charges, including terrorism, and remains jailed in Pinal County on a $250,000 secured bond.

Arizona DPS spokesperson Bart Graves told InMaricopa detectives began investigating Javier Enrique Erazo-Zuniga, 27, after receiving information in December that he was “claiming Hidden Valley in Maricopa as his territory and demanding money from victims.”

According to Graves, investigators tied Erazo-Zuniga to a series of violent incidents involving residents who were targeted at their homes.

In 2024, DPS says Erazo-Zuniga put one victim in a headlock and held a knife to the person’s neck, leaving a cut. Last month, investigators say he waited at the end of another victim’s driveway and held the victim at gunpoint.

As first reported by InMaricopa, detectives with the Gang & Immigration Intelligence Team Enforcement Mission served a search warrant Jan. 9 at the Hidden Valley residence where Erazo-Zuniga lived, prompting the large early-morning law enforcement operation near Papago and Thunderbird Roads that temporarily shut down traffic and drew widespread attention from nearby residents as a helicopter circled overhead.

During a search of Erazo-Zuniga’s bedroom, detectives recovered the firearm believed to have been used in the December gunpoint incident, Graves said.

Erazo-Zuniga was booked into the Pinal County jail, where he remains in custody today, and was later indicted Wednesday by a Pinal County grand jury.

Court records show the grand jury charged him with aggravated assault involving a firearm, two counts of forgery and two counts of misconduct involving weapons, including possession of handguns while prohibited. Prosecutors allege the aggravated assault count qualifies as a dangerous felony because it involved the use or threatened exhibition of a firearm.

DPS has also stated that Erazo-Zuniga is charged with assisting a criminal street gang and terrorism, though those allegations were outlined by the agency rather than detailed in the indictment documents released to InMaricopa today by the Pinal County Superior Court. Given the nature of the case, more charges may be forthcoming at the federal level.

According to a minute entry filed in superior court, Erazo-Zuniga is being held in custody in lieu of posting a $250,000 secured bond. His arraignment is scheduled for Friday. InMaricopa will cover the proceedings.

Graves said investigators believe there are multiple additional victims, but that some have been afraid to come forward.

“We encourage them to contact our tip line,” Graves said. DPS asked anyone with information related to the case to call 602-644-5805.

Authorities have not confirmed whether additional charges are expected or whether the investigation could expand beyond Maricopa.

The local case comes amid heightened national law enforcement attention on Venezuelan criminal groups following a series of high-profile investigations in Colorado in 2024 and 2025. Federal prosecutors there indicted Venezuelan nationals accused of participating in organized robberies, kidnappings, extortion schemes and firearms offenses tied to a transnational gang known as Tren de Aragua. While some early claims of gang “takeovers” of apartment complexes in Colorado were later disputed or clarified by local officials, authorities have confirmed multiple violent cases involving armed suspects and coordinated criminal activity, prompting federal and state agencies to warn that such groups may attempt to establish footholds in U.S. communities through intimidation and violence.

David Iversen contributed.