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Tren de Aragua

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Tren de Aragua
Tren de Aragua
Founded2009–2010
Founding locationAragua, Venezuela
Territory
Membership5,000+
Leader(s)Niño Guerrero
ActivitiesMurder, protection racketeering, drug-trafficking, human-trafficking, forced prostitution, human smuggling, kidnappings-for-ransom, retail theft, robbery, illegal mining, bribery, and money laundering[1][2]
AlliesPrimeiro Comando da Capital

Tren de Aragua (Spanish pronunciation: [tɾen de aˈɾaɣwa]; English: Aragua Train) is a transnational criminal organization from Venezuela. It is believed to have over 5,000 members.[3] Tren de Aragua is led by Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, alias "Niño Guerrero [es]"; he was incarcerated in Tocorón prison [es], 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][4] Due to the severity of its crimes, combating the gang has become a priority to many nations where Tren de Aragua has entered.[3] Though Tocorón prison was taken by Venezuelan security forces in 2023, the leadership escaped and the gang's activities continue to this day.

Characteristics

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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.[3]

Operations

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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.[5] The organization engages in a variety of criminal activities, such as arms trafficking, bribery, drug-trafficking, illegal mining, kidnappings-for-ransom, and money laundering.[3][6] The gang has alliances with Primeiro Comando da Capital in Brazil.[6]

Chile

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Amidst the Tarapacá migrant crisis in northern Chile, Tren de Aragua engaged in trafficking of women across from the Bolivian border to Santiago.[7][8] By October 2021 there were reports that Chilean authorities were conducting four different investigations related to the criminal organization.[8] 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.[9] Six other migrant traffickers of Tren de Aragua were also captured in March 2022 by Chilean police.[9]

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.[10] Ronald was kidnapped on 21 February and his body was discovered 10 days later inside a bag which had been cemented over.[10]

Peru

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Due to Tren de Aragua's heavy presence in Lima, increased sentiments of xenophobia against Venezuelans from Peruvians resulted.[11] 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.[12] In 2023 alone, at least 183 suspected members were arrested.[4]

United States

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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.[13] 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."[14] In January 2024, the Federal Bureau of Investigation confirmed reports that the gang was operating in the United States.[15] 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.[16] 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.[1]

Tren de Aragua first appeared in Chicago and its suburbs in October 2023.[3][17] Chief Garry McCarthy of Willow Springs estimated that hundreds of gang members were present in the city.[17] 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.[1][13][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.[13]

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."[20] 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]

Venezuela

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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]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Venezuelan Gang's Path to U.S. Stokes Fear, Crime and Border Politics". The New York Times. 22 September 2024.
  2. ^ Klug, Johann (22 August 2022). "'Los Malditos del Tren de Aragua', la organización criminal que opera en Perú y que tiene más de 2.500 miembros". Infobae (in European Spanish).
  3. ^ a b c d e f "La megabanda delictiva el Tren de Aragua ya está en ciudades de EE.UU. como Chicago y Miami: qué se sabe y qué implica" [The Tren de Aragua mega-criminal gang is already in US cities such as Chicago and Miami: what is known and what it entails]. Telemundo (in Spanish). 26 January 2024. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  4. ^ a b Chavez Yacila, Rosa; Castile, Oscar; Cardenas, Abel; Huaman, Gianfranco (11 August 2023). "Tren de Aragua: expansión y evolución de una megafranquicia del crimen en América Latina" [Tren de Aragua: Expansion and evolution of a mega crime franchise in Latin America]. Ojo Público (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  5. ^ "1: Americas". Armed Conflict Study. 9 (1): 18–64. 31 December 2023. doi:10.1080/23740973.2023.2277530. ISSN 2374-0973.
  6. ^ a b "1: Americas". Armed Conflict Survey. 8 (1): 39–101. 31 December 2022. doi:10.1080/23740973.2022.2135784. ISSN 2374-0973.
  7. ^ a b ""Tren de Aragua", peligrosa banda de Venezuela" ["Tren de Aragua", a dangerous gang from Venezuela]. swissinfo.ch (in Spanish). EFE. 24 March 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  8. ^ a b "El Tren de Aragua ya opera en Chile: la peligrosa banda criminal venezolana está involucrada en el tráfico de miles de migrantes" [The Tren de Aragua is already operating in Chile: the dangerous Venezuelan criminal gang is involved in the trafficking of thousands of migrants]. Infobae (in Spanish). 23 October 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  9. ^ a b Díaz Montero, Felipe (24 March 2022). "Secuestros con homicidios en Chile: cae brazo del "Tren de Aragua", banda más grande de Venezuela" [Kidnappings with homicides in Chile: the arm of the "Tren de Aragua", the largest gang in Venezuela, is taken down]. Radio Bío-Bío (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  10. ^ a b "La protesta de Chile contra Venezuela por el caso del asesinato del exmilitar Ronald Ojeda" (in Spanish). 6 June 2024. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  11. ^ "Bandas de extorsionistas venezolanos provocan violentas reacciones en Perú" [Venezuelan extortion gangs provoke violent reactions in Peru]. InSight Crime (in European Spanish). 13 November 2023. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  12. ^ Jama, Ramón (2 November 2023). "Facción del Tren de Aragua amenaza de muerte a mototaxistas de Lima: "No habrá paz para peruanos que apoyen la xenofobia"" [Tren de Aragua faction threatens Lima motorcycle taxi drivers with death: "There will be no peace for Peruvians who support xenophobia"]. Emol (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  13. ^ a b c "A Venezuelan Gang Reaches New York". The New York Times. 23 September 2024. Archived from the original on 10 November 2024.
  14. ^ "Vinculan con la banda criminal Tren de Aragua al hermano del migrante detenido en Georgia por la muerte de una universitaria" [Brother of migrant detained in Georgia for the death of a university student linked to the Tren de Aragua criminal gang]. Telemundo (in Spanish). 8 March 2024. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
  15. ^ "El FBI sostiene que Tren de Aragua opera en EE.UU | Video" [FBI claims Tren de Aragua operates in the US | Video]. CNN (in Spanish). 26 January 2024. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
  16. ^ "Explainer: What is the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua? | Video". Reuters. 11 July 2024. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  17. ^ a b Reyes, Mariana (23 January 2024). "Miembros de la temida banda criminal Tren de Aragua ya están en Chicago, según autoridades" [Members of the feared criminal gang Tren de Aragua are already in Chicago, according to authorities]. Telemundo Chicago (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  18. ^ "Despite internal police alerts, scant evidence of violent gang members among Venezuelan migrants in Chicago". Chicago Sun-Times. 10 November 2023. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  19. ^ Gaskins, Kayla (27 February 2024). "Gangs in US cities recruiting illegal migrants, spurs politicians to pivot on policy". KGAN. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  20. ^ a b Mason, Tori (30 August 2024). "Venezuelan gang activity confirmed by Aurora officials after release of Colorado woman's surveillance video". CBS News. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  21. ^ "Aurora names 3 in viral video, Venezuelan gang connections unknown". 20 September 2024.
  22. ^ McKinley, Carol (29 August 2024). "Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman admits Venezuelan gangs infiltrated apartment complexes in city". Denver Gazette. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  23. ^ "Aurora names 3 in viral video, Venezuelan gang connections unknown". 20 September 2024.
  24. ^ "El Tren de Aragua está en Estados Unidos, dice agente del FBI de El Paso, Texas". CNN (in Spanish). 26 January 2024. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
  25. ^ KUTV, Brian Mullahy (22 November 2024). "Herriman shooting now linked to notorious gang Tren de Aragua". KUTV. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
  26. ^ "Con 11.000 agentes, Venezuela desalojó una cárcel copada por la "delincuencia organizada" ¡". Télam. 20 September 2023.
  27. ^ Zulia, El Regional del (20 September 2023). "Murió mayor de la GNB durante operativo en Tocorón". El Regional Del Zulia (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 September 2023.
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