(The Center Square) – Tren de Aragua’s leader has been indicted in New York on terrorism charges and for allegedly facilitating an elaborate global cocaine trafficking scheme that has brought hundreds of tons of cocaine into the U.S.
Two of the other top three TdA leaders were indicted in the Southern District in Texas in a separate case, The Center Square reported.
In February, the Trump administration first designated TdA as a foreign terrorist organization and directed the Department of Justice and other federal agencies to eradicate TdA in the U.S.
He did so after a record number of more than one million Venezuelans illegally entered the country under the Biden administration and TdA crime expanded in at least 22 states, The Center Square reported.
In the Southern District of New York, the leader of TdA, Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, 42, of Venezuela, was indicted on charges include racketeering, providing material support to terrorists, using and carrying firearms, machine guns, and destructive devices to commit drug trafficking. If convicted, he faces a mandatory minimum 40 years to life in prison.
Guerrero Flores “has been the mastermind of Tren de Aragua’s evolution from a Venezuelan prison gang into a transnational terrorist organization that committed countless acts of violence, extortion, and drug trafficking all over North America, South America, and Europe,” U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said. “In the Southern District of New York, we have now charged over 30 members or associates of Tren de Aragua with federal crimes, and we are committed to bankrupting the cartels and transnational gangs who flood our streets with deadly drugs and pursue death, violence and corruption as a way of life.”
TdA, which means, “Train from Aragua,” referring to the Venezuelan state of Aragua, initially operated out of Tocorón Prison in Aragua. Its operatives have spread worldwide throughout North and South America and Europe, establishing strongholds in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Spain and now the United States, the DOJ says.
TdA members and associates infiltrate countries by illegally crossing their borders to find cities and residential neighborhoods to establish control, law enforcement officials have said. In the U.S., they’ve taken over entire neighborhoods and apartment buildings in New York, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Nebraska, Illinois, and Florida, the DOJ says. They also commit terrorist acts, extortion, kidnapping, robbery, murder, drug trafficking, prostitution, sex trafficking, and traffic guns, grenades and ammunition, the DOJ says.
TdA has also been partnering with the Cártel de los Soles (Cartel of the Suns), the DOJ says. It’s comprised of “high-ranking Venezuelan government officials who corrupted the legitimate institutions of Venezuela to facilitate the importation of tons of cocaine into the United States,” including creating maritime distribution routes using boats and ships to transport “hundreds or thousands of kilograms of narcotics, including cocaine,” the DOJ says. This is why the Trump administration is targeting Venezuelan drug boats, it says.
Cartel members include “the most powerful politicians in Venezuela, former military officials, and some of the largest and most violent cocaine traffickers in the world” who enabled TdA to expand, the DOJ says. Venezuelan politicians “aided cocaine traffickers by offering them safe passage for their cocaine, protection from arrest, and, at times, the support of the police and military” as traffickers kidnapped and murdered, the DOJ says. They also use and sell automatic weapons, AK-47s, MP5s, and AR-15s, grenades and other weapons, to protect cocaine shipments, according to the charges.
Guerrero Flores has played a key role for more than a decade in this conspiracy, “acting as the mastermind over TdA’s expansion across the Western Hemisphere,” the DOJ says. Much of his operations were conducted from Tocorón Prison, ordering a list of violent crimes to be committed, including “acts of violence and terrorism transcending national boundaries,” according to the indictment.
The cocaine was manufactured in Colombia and Venezuela, shipped by sea to Venezuela and Central America, and transported across Mexico into the U.S., according to the indictment. Those involved are “members of the largest, most violent, narcotics trafficking organizations in Mexico,” the DOJ says. The result was the distribution of hundreds of tons of cocaine into the U.S., the DOJ says.
Guerrero Flores is currently at large. A reward of up to $5 million is being offered by the State Department for information leading to his arrest and/or conviction.
Anyone with information about Guerrero Flores is encouraged to contact the FBI via WhatsApp or Telegram at 281-787-9939, go to their nearest U.S. embassy or consulate or submit an online tip.
Texas is also offering rewards of up to $5,000 leading to the arrest of TdA members. Tips are to be made through Texas Crime Stoppers by calling 1-800-252-TIPS (8477) or online.
Multiple law enforcement agencies, including in Texas, are involved in an expansive investigation targeting TdA led by DOJ’s Joint Task Force Vulcan. The first Trump administration created the task force in 2019 to target MS-13; it’s now expanded to target TdA.