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.

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

Erazo-Zuniga was booked into the Pinal County Jail, where jail records show he remains in custody on a $250,000 secured bond. He was later indicted by a Pinal County grand jury.

Court records obtained by the outlet show the grand jury charged Erazo-Zuniga 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 charge qualifies as a dangerous felony because it involved the use or threatened exhibition of a firearm.

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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 by the Pinal County Superior Court. Authorities have said additional charges could be forthcoming, potentially at the federal level.

According to a minute entry filed in superior court, Erazo-Zuniga is scheduled to be arraigned Friday.

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

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“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 the investigation could expand beyond Maricopa.

The case comes amid heightened national law enforcement scrutiny of Venezuelan criminal groups following a series of high-profile investigations in Colorado in 2024 and 2025.

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Federal prosecutors there indicted Venezuelan nationals accused of participating in organized robberies, kidnappings, extortion schemes and firearms offenses tied to the transnational gang Tren de Aragua. While some early claims of gang “takeovers” were later disputed or clarified, authorities have confirmed multiple violent cases involving coordinated criminal activity and armed suspects.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Arizona Department of Public Safety, Homeland Security Investigations, the Pinal County Attorney’s Office and the FBI for additional information.

Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and migrant crime. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.

An Arizona OnlyFans star with alleged ties to a Mexican cartel was abducted at gunpoint by multiple armed men in Mexico Tuesday, according to footage that captured the incident.

The reported kidnapping of 20-year-old Mexican-American Nicole Pardo Molina, known for driving a distinctive lilac Cybertruck, was captured by her vehicle’s cameras.

According to Spanish outlet El Pais, the incident took place outside a shopping center in Culiacán, Sinaloa, where she was selling merchandise bearing the image of cartel leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. The area where she lived and where her father is from is reportedly controlled by a rival faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, suggesting the kidnapping is possibly linked to cartel rivalry.

In the footage, Molina, who has more than 180,000 Instagram followers, was approached by a white Toyota Corolla and multiple attackers, who reportedly used tire spikes to bring her vehicle to a halt before pulling up alongside her, El Pais reported.

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“According to initial investigations, three armed men in a stolen white vehicle threw tire spikes at the SUV the victim was traveling in, intercepted it, and then forced the victim into the car,” authorities said, according to El País.

Chaos erupted as she struggled, desperately trying to slam the Toyota’s rear passenger door shut and scramble back into her own car, according to the footage. 

The men appeared to eventually overpower her and force her into the back of the car, while a third man in the driver’s seat sped away.

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El País reported that Molina was well-known in Culiacán for her customized lilac Cybertruck, a vehicle that made her instantly recognizable.

Authorities have confirmed Molina’s disappearance and opened a missing persons case to locate the 20-year-old. They are investigating possible links to the ongoing turf war between rival cartels.

According to the Attorney General’s Office of the State of Sinaloa, officials have no information regarding her whereabouts and said, “It is considered that her safety may be at risk, as she could be a victim of a crime.”

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Molina was born and raised in the U.S., and her parents live in Phoenix, Arizona, El País reported. She frequently travels between Culiacán and Phoenix, where her family still lives.

El País added that Molina reportedly dropped out of school in the U.S. after the COVID-19 pandemic to pursue business ventures in Mexico.

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While there were no confirmed criminal links prior to the kidnapping, authorities and media reports suggest the incident may be tied to cartel rivalries.

In 2025, hundreds of women were kidnapped or disappeared in Sinaloa alone, according to official figures. A growing number of influencers have also been threatened or killed for promoting or alluding to specific cartel factions. In May 2025, for instance, influencer Valeria Marquez was murdered during a TikTok livestream. 

FIRST ON FOX: A memo obtained by Fox News Digital revealed the preparations the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is taking Friday as a “massive winter storm” is set to impact over 240 million people across more than 30 states. 

The FEMA memo said 250,000 meals, 400,000 liters of water and 30 generators have already been prepositioned at Camp Minden in Louisiana, as well as dozens of shuttle drivers to “rapidly move commodities as needed” from facilities in Pennsylvania, Texas, Louisiana and Georgia. 

In addition, 28 urban search and rescue teams are on standby, “ready to deploy and support lifesaving operations at the request of governors,” according to the memo. 

“The secretary is fully engaged at FEMA in a way we haven’t seen from DHS secretaries under previous administrations. It’s clear she cares deeply for the Americans who will be impacted by this storm and is leaning in to make sure they get the resources they need,” a FEMA source told Fox News Digital.

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“She personally gave her phone number to dozens of governors on a call yesterday and so did the acting FEMA administrator. It’s like someone took a chainsaw to the red tape and bureaucracy. We’re focused, mission ready, deploying resources, and supporting state and local response to this storm,” the source added. 

The FEMA memo states, “On Friday, January 23, 2026, a massive winter storm will begin its path across the midsection of the United States, impacting more than 30 states.”  

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“Conditions will range from heavy snow and crippling ice in the South to life-threatening cold in the North. A large, long-duration winter storm is expected to bring widespread heavy snow, sleet, and freezing rain from the Southern Rockies/Plains into the Mid-South beginning Friday, spreading eastward to the Mid-Atlantic and New England this weekend,” the memo added. “An Arctic front will bring frigid temperatures and gusty winds that will lead to dangerous wind chills from the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest.”

More than 240 million people from Arizona to Maine are in the path of the potentially historic storm, which is expected to extend over 2,300 miles, according to FOX Weather. 

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Ahead of the storm, thousands of flights have already been canceled around the U.S., with states of emergency already being declared in Arkansas, Virginia, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, Missouri, Mississippi, Kentucky, New York, and Kansas, along with Washington D.C., FOX Weather reported.