| Tren de Aragua | |
| Native Name: | Tren de Aragua |
| Native Name Lang: | es |
| Founded: | 2009–2010 |
| Founders: | --> |
| Founding Location: | Aragua, Venezuela |
| Membership: | 5,000+ |
| Leaders: | Niño Guerrero |
| Activities: | Murder, Protection racketeering, drug-trafficking, human-trafficking, Forced prostitution, human smuggling, kidnappings-for-ransom, retail theft, robbery, illegal mining, bribery, and money laundering[1] |
| Allies: | Primeiro Comando da Capital |
Tren de Aragua (pronounced as /es/; English: Aragua Train) is a transnational criminal organization from Venezuela. It is believed to have over 5,000 members.[2] Tren de Aragua is led by Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, alias ""; he was incarcerated in, which functioned as the organization's de facto headquarters. The gang has since expanded throughout Latin America and the United States due to the Venezuelan refugee crisis, with the growth of the gang following the migration of Venezuelans to host nations.[3] Due to the severity of its crimes, combating the gang has become a priority to many nations where Tren de Aragua has entered. Though Tocorón prison was taken by Venezuelan security forces in 2023, leadership escaped and the gang's activities continue to this day.
Members of the organization are primarily Venezuelans. Although some members have tattoos, Tren De Aragua does not have tattoos that actually signify membership, such as the Maras in Central America, MS13 or 18th Street. Tren de Aragua is more similar to the other criminal organizations in South America, such as the Medellin Cartel or Cali Cartel, which do not use tattoos to signify membership. This prevents members from being easily identified.
Tren de Aragua is also the first Venezuelan criminal organization to expand internationally; it has a presence in Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Panama, Costa Rica, Chile, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States. It holds a particularly dominant role in human-trafficking and human smuggling in Latin America.[4] The organization engages in a variety of criminal activities, such as arms trafficking, bribery, drug-trafficking, illegal mining, kidnappings-for-ransom, and money laundering.[5] The gang has alliances with Primeiro Comando da Capital in Brazil.
Amidst the Tarapacá migrant crisis in northern Chile, Tren de Aragua engaged in trafficking of women across from the Bolivian border to Santiago.[6] By October 2021 there were reports that Chilean authorities were conducting four different investigations related to the criminal organization. On March 24, 2022 Investigations Police of Chile (PDI) declared to have dismantled the Chilean branch of Tren de Aragua.[7] One of the Tren de Aragua members captured in March 2022 had Interpol arrest warrants for murders in Venezuela and Peru.[8] Six other migrant traffickers of Tren de Aragua were also captured in March 2022 by Chilean police.
On 11 April 2024, Chilean authorities implicated the Tren de Aragua in the murder of Ronald Ojeda, a Venezuelan political dissident and opponent to Nicolás Maduro who had been living in exile in Chile.[9] Ronald was kidnapped on 21 February and his body was discovered 10 days later inside a bag which had been cemented over.[9]
Due to Tren de Aragua's heavy presence in Lima, increased sentiments of xenophobia against Venezuelans from Peruvians resulted.[10] Following clashes between Peruvians and Venezuelan migrants at the Gamarra Market in Lima, the "Los Gallegos" chapter of the Tren de Aragua released a video stating "There will be no peace for Peruvians who support xenophobia. We will begin to kill all the Peruvian motorized people", threatening to kill Peruvian motortaxi drivers.[11] In 2023 alone, at least 183 suspected members were arrested.
Tren de Aragua began emerging throughout the United States during the administration of President Joe Biden, and saw a surge of migrants crossing the Mexico-U.S. border, particularly from Venezuela.[12] Telemundo, citing multiple criminal cases against suspected members of the gang, wrote in March 2024 that the group evidently "also has an increasingly widespread presence in the United States."[13] In January 2024, the Federal Bureau of Investigation confirmed reports that the gang was operating in the United States.[14] On July 11, 2024, the US Treasury Department and the White House announced sanctions against the gang and designated it a "transnational criminal organization". The State Department is also offering a $12 million reward for information leading to the arrest of the organization's leaders.[15] In 2024, U.S. officials at the U.S.-Mexico border implemented enhanced interviews of single Venezuelan male migrants in order to screen for Tren de Aragua members. Tren de Aragua members have been linked to crimes throughout the United States, including murders.[16]
Tren de Aragua first appeared in Chicago and its suburbs in October 2023.[17] Chief Garry McCarthy of Willow Springs estimated that hundreds of gang members were present in the city. The Chicago Sun-Times reported in November 2023 that "A Sun-Times analysis found shoplifting and domestic violence arrests, but little proof of the gang's presence among migrants."[18]
In New York City, the gang has been linked to shootings, thefts in retail stores, street robberies, forced prostitution, extortion, and drug dealing.[16] [12] [19] Members of the gang frequently live or have lived in the city's migrant shelters. The New York Times reported that Tren de Aragua is believed to recruit new gang members from within the migrant shelters.[12]
In Aurora, Colorado, surveillance footage of gunmen attempting to enter apartments went viral,[20] [21] leading the city's mayor, Mike Coffman, to state that the gang had "infiltrated" various apartment buildings in the area.[22] Such claims were downplayed by the Aurora Police Department, which stated that, "[b]ased on [their] initial investigative work, we believe reports of [Tren de Aragua] influence in Aurora are isolated." Claims that Aurora was overrun by the gang were highlighted on right-wing news outlets. Former President Donald Trump, as part of his presidential campaign's focus on illegal immigration, claimed parts of the city were controlled by the gang.[23]
FBI agents in El Paso, Texas reported that 41 suspected members of the Tren de Aragua were arrested in 2023.[24]
In 2024, the Salt Lake City metropolitan area experienced an uptick of crime linked to Tren de Aragua, including a September 2024 shooting in the Salt Lake City suburb of Herriman. Most of the reported crimes, which included theft, illegal drug distribution, and sextortion, did not involve non-gang members.[25]
In addition to its home-state of Aragua, the organization has a presence in other states in Venezuela, such as Carabobo, Sucre, Bolívar, Guárico, Trujillo and Miranda.
In September 2023, 11,000 members of the Venezuelan security forces took the Aragua Penitentiary Center, which served as the gang's headquarters.[26] [27]