27 Tren de Aragua Members and Associates Charged in First RICO Case Against the Gang
The U.S. Department of Justice announced on April 21, 2025, that two superseding indictments had been unsealed in the Southern District of New York charging 27 individuals currently or formerly associated with Tren de Aragua (TdA), a designated foreign terrorist organization, with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking conspiracy, drug-trafficking conspiracy, robbery and firearms offenses. It was the first time federal prosecutors had charged members of the Venezuelan gang under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).
The first indictment, the TdA Indictment, charges six alleged members of TdA. The second, the Anti-Tren Indictment, charges 19 alleged members of Anti-Tren, a splinter faction almost exclusively comprised of former TdA members, along with two additional Anti-Tren associates charged on other counts. Of the 27 defendants, 21 are in federal custody, including 16 who were already in federal criminal, immigration or state custody and five who were arrested the night before and that day in operations in New York and other jurisdictions.
"As alleged, Tren de Aragua is not just a street gang – it is a highly structured terrorist organization that has destroyed American families with brutal violence, engaged in human trafficking, and spread deadly drugs through our communities," said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. "Today's indictments and arrests span three states and will devastate TdA's infrastructure as we work to completely dismantle and purge this organization from our country."
Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky for the Southern District of New York said the 27 were charged with "committing murders and shootings, forcing young women trafficked from Venezuela into commercial sex work, robbing and extorting small businesses, and selling 'tusi,' a pink powdery drug that has become their calling card." New York City Police Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch said: "For the first time ever, TdA is being named and charged as the criminal enterprise that it is. This isn't just street crime—it's organized racketeering."
According to the indictments, TdA and Anti-Tren operated throughout New York City, including the Bronx and Queens: young women known as "multadas" were smuggled from Venezuela through Peru into the United States and made to repay smuggling debts through commercial sex work, enforced by threats to kill the women and their families, assaults, shootings and kidnapping of those who tried to flee; the organizations also trafficked "tusi," a mixed substance containing ketamine, committed armed robberies, and used murder and violence to protect territory and retaliate against the rival faction. The TdA case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Denise L. Cote and the Anti-Tren case to U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil; racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking conspiracy each carry a maximum of life in prison, and drug-trafficking conspiracy up to 20 years.
The case received significant support from Joint Task Force Vulcan, created in 2019 to eradicate MS-13 and now expanded to target Tren de Aragua, and is part of Operation Take Back America, the Justice Department's nationwide initiative against cartels and transnational criminal organizations. TdA was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization in February 2025. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jun Xiang, Kathryn Wheelock and Timothy Ly of the Southern District's Violent and Organized Crime Unit are in charge of the prosecution. The charges in the indictments are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. (Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于华盛顿的美国司法部罗伯特·肯尼迪大楼（资料图）。图：APK，CC BY 4.0，via Wikimedia Commons / Photo: The Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building in Washington (file photo). Photo: APK, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
