FBI Director Kash Patel announced the capture of Aníbal Alexander Canelón Aguirre in Venezuela during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, correcting Senator Chuck Grassley's earlier statement.

Canelón Aguirre was added to the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list on March 12, 2026, becoming the first cybercriminal on that list.

He is accused of leading an ATM jackpotting network active since at least January 2024 that laundered proceeds and financed the Tren de Aragua.

A federal arrest warrant was issued December 9, 2025, by the U.S. District Court for Nebraska in Omaha, with a reward of up to $1 million offered.

This is a single-source, unclassified report from Infobae Venezuela describing an announcement made by FBI Director Kash Patel during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing: the capture in Venezuela of Aníbal Alexander Canelón Aguirre, described as one of the FBI's most wanted and accused of financing the Tren de Aragua. The signal is therefore not a court document or an official U.S. government press release, but a media account of a public statement by a named official. Its epistemic status is asserted rather than independently verified within this article: our corpus has no matching record for either claim, and because our per-claim corroboration probe cannot yet tell whether two sources report the same claim (0 of 24,929 claim keys cross sources, measured 2026-09-13), we cannot yet check this against other sources. That is a limit of our own check, not a finding about the world.

The source profile matters for how to read the item. Infobae Venezuela is categorized as unclassified, and the article's two claims carry no internal supporting records. The first claim is notable for its procedural detail: Patel is said to have corrected Senator Chuck Grassley's earlier statement, which implies the capture entered the public record through a hearing exchange rather than a formal announcement. The second claim, that Canelón Aguirre was added to the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list on March 12, 2026 and is the first cybercriminal on that list, is a specific, checkable assertion about an FBI list. The entities named, including the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. District Court for Nebraska, point to the likely jurisdictional path if the case proceeds, but their presence in the article does not itself establish any action by them.

The assessment would change with observable steps. A docket entry or transfer to U.S. custody in the District of Nebraska, a DOJ press release, a public confirmation or denial by the Venezuelan government regarding an arrest on its territory, or a change to the FBI Ten Most Wanted list marking Canelón Aguirre as captured would each move this from an asserted media account toward a corroborated event. Until then, the appropriate reading is that a senior U.S. official made a public claim, reported by one outlet, and that the operational and legal consequences remain unconfirmed in our corpus.

The claims, made testable

• asserted — check unavailable FBI Director Kash Patel announced the capture of Aníbal Alexander Canelón Aguirre in Venezuela during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, correcting Senator Chuck Grassley's earlier statement. (evidence: not measured)
• asserted — check unavailable Canelón Aguirre was added to the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list on March 12, 2026, becoming the first cybercriminal on that list. (evidence: not measured)

Pattern: 108 related Venezuela signals in the last 30 days on FBI capture, Tren de Aragua, cybercrime, Venezuela-US relations.

What would change the assessment

• Canelón Aguirre appears in U.S. federal court in Nebraska or is listed as transferred to U.S. custody (within 90 days — U.S. District Court for Nebraska (Omaha) docket, DOJ press releases)
• Venezuelan government publicly confirms or denies the arrest on its territory (within 30 days — Venezuelan Ministry of Interior/Justice statements, official gazette)
• FBI Ten Most Wanted list removes Canelón Aguirre or marks him as captured (within 30 days — FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list)

Grounded analysis — deterministic intelligence + AI synthesis anchored to real signals (deterministic + anchored deepseek-chat). No fact is asserted that the sources do not support.

What the sources establish

The source makes the assertions summarized above; VeraVadis has not yet found independent corroboration in its corpus.

Actors named in sources

Aníbal Alexander Canelón Aguirre · FBI · Kash Patel · Chuck Grassley · Departamento de Justicia estadounidense · Tren de Aragua

Click an actor to see other briefs that name it.

What's still unverified

• Aníbal Alexander Canelón Aguirre was captured in Venezuela — FBI
• Aníbal Alexander Canelón Aguirre was added to the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list on 12 de marzo de 2026
• Aníbal Alexander Canelón Aguirre was the first cybercriminal included in the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list since its creation
• fiscales federales de Nebraska charged 54 people in December 2025 for alleged participation in an international conspiracy related to jackpotting attacks — Departamento de Justicia estadounidense
• FBI offered a reward of up to one million dollars for information leading to the location and arrest of Canelón Aguirre