The gang is suspected of being used by the Venezuelan government to destabilize surrounding nations and the United States.
The Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua made headlines last year when stories emerged alleging its members had taken control of several apartment buildings in a Colorado suburb, extorting and terrorizing local residents.
The gang has been operating for over a decade but has recently come under scrutiny as President Donald Trump has classified them as a state-sponsored terrorist organization with ties to Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, and implemented mass deportations of their members using a 200-year old law known as the Alien Enemies Act.
Here’s what to know.
Origins
Tren de Aragua (TdA) originated in Tocoron prison in the Venezuelan state of Aragua, which had been taken over by its inmates. The name is Spanish for “Train of Aragua,” and it is possible that some of its original members were disaffected rail workers.
Since its inception around 2014, TdA has snaked out to other South American countries, and has been linked to a wide slate of crimes including drugs, human trafficking, predatory lending, and extortion schemes in Colombia, Chile, and Peru.
Chilean officials blame the group for the April 2024 kidnap and murder of former Venezuelan lieutenant Ronald Ojeda, a dissident from Maduro’s government who had been granted asylum in Santiago.
In November 2023 media outlet InsightCrime reported that anti-Venezuelan sentiments were growing in Peru, fueled by a TdA-linked gang’s extortion and harassment of local business owners.
Following a protest by business owners and attacks on Venezuelan migrants, the offshoot gang released a video threatening to kill local motorcyclists in retaliation.
Although Venezuelan police raided Tocoron prison and regained control in 2023, a Venezuelan native who asked for anonymity told The Epoch Times that locals understood that TdA thoroughly infiltrated that country’s law enforcement.
The person also said they felt Maduro was using the gang to weaken the surrounding nations through crime and unrest.
Activities in America
Joseph M. Humire, executive director of the think tank Center for a Secure Free Society, testified before Congress that Venezuela, along with Russia, China, Cuba, and Iran, was seeking to “capitalize on the U.S. border and immigration crisis,” by introducing TdA as chaos agents to destabilize the United States.
Humire said Maduro’s government used TdA to control human trafficking, operating through organizations such as the state-run immigration outfit SAIME.
