In September 2023, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro deployed 11,000 soldiers to retake control of the Tocorón Prison in Aragua state from a powerful gang that had turned it into a resort. The gang’s leader, Hector Guerrero Flores, escaped. Now, the Tren de Aragua organization is a focus of U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to remove foreign criminals from the U.S. as part of his mass deportation pledge for undocumented immigrants. Here’s what is known about Tren de Aragua. The group originated as a prison gang that Guerrero Flores transformed into a “transnational criminal organization”. Guerrero Flores, in and out of Tocorón for over a decade, expanded the gang’s influence beyond the prison, taking control of gold mines, drug corridors, and border crossings in Venezuela and neighboring countries. The gang has spread to other countries, including the U.S., since Venezuela’s 2014 humanitarian and economic crisis. Estimates of its membership range from 2,500 to 5,000 members. The U.S. Treasury sanctioned Tren de Aragua last summer, citing its involvement in sex-trafficking across the U.S. border.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr421q5zl69o