President Trump’s executive order on Saturday targeted Venezuelan citizens 14 years and older with ties to the transnational gang Tren de Aragua, stating that they are liable to be detained, restrained, secured, and removed as Alien Enemies. This order was challenged in court, but the gang has been a growing concern for U.S. officials over the last year. Tren de Aragua has roots in Tocorón prison in Venezuela and has transformed it into a mini-city. As Venezuela’s economy collapsed and the government under President Nicolás Maduro became more repressive, the group began to exploit vulnerable migrants. The gang’s influence soon stretched into other parts of Latin America, and it became one of the region’s most violent and notorious criminal organizations, focusing on sex trafficking, human smuggling, and drugs. Colombian officials accused the gang of at least 23 murders in 2022. Alleged members have also been apprehended in Chile and Brazil, where the gang aligned itself with Primeiro Comando da Capital, one of that country’s biggest organized crime rings. Despite the many unknowns about its true size or sophistication in the United States, Tren de Aragua has emerged as a real source of concern for law enforcement in the last couple of years. In New York City, the gang has focused on stealing cellphones, retail thefts, and dealing a pink, powdery synthetic drug known as Tusi. People accused of affiliations with Tren de Aragua have been charged with crimes such as shootings and human trafficking in other parts of the country. The group’s presence in the United States was a flashpoint of the 2024 election, as Trump accused the Biden administration of letting criminals into the country. The Trump administration has repeatedly described Tren de Aragua as a focus of its deportation efforts and has used Guantánamo Bay to detain suspected members.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/15/world/americas/tren-de-aragua-gang-venezuela.html