President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice announced Monday that it filed its first RICO charges against 27 individuals linked to the Venezuela-based foreign terrorist organization Tren de Aragua.
The dangerous group, whose members flooded into the country under the Biden administration’s open-border chaos, has been tied to criminal activity in New York City, apartment takeovers in Colorado, and violent offenses in several other states.
‘This isn’t just street crime — it’s organized racketeering, and this gang has shown zero regard for the safety of New Yorkers.’
Six confirmed TDA members were charged as part of the first superseding indictment, the DOJ said Monday. The second superseding indictment charged 19 former TDA members who formed a splinter faction, “Anti-Tren,” and two individuals described as “associates” of the offshoot group.
“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 last night and today in operations in New York and other jurisdictions,” the DOJ stated.
The individuals were accused of “racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking conspiracy, drug trafficking conspiracy, robbery, and firearms offenses.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi stated that the indictments and arrests would “devastate TDA’s infrastructure as we work to completely dismantle and purge this organization from our country.”
“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,” Bondi said.
Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky for the Southern District of New York explained that the individuals were accused of a long list of offenses, including murder and extortion.
Podolsky stated, “Today’s indictments make clear that this office will work tirelessly to keep the law-abiding residents of New York City safe, and hold accountable those who bring violence to our streets.”
New York City Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch called TDA “one of the most dangerous gangs in the country.”
“This isn’t just street crime — it’s organized racketeering, and this gang has shown zero regard for the safety of New Yorkers,” Tisch said. “As alleged in the indictment, these defendants wreaked havoc in our communities, trafficking women for sexual exploitation, flooding our streets with drugs, and committing violent crimes with illegal guns.”
Sources told the New York Post that the cases began in October, and arrests of the alleged gang members have continued as recently as Monday.
The DOJ’s recent indictments mark the first time TDA gang members have been charged as associates of a criminal organization since Trump labeled the group as terrorists in a March executive order.
Trump stated in the EO, “I find and declare that TDA is perpetrating, attempting, and threatening an invasion or predatory incursion against the territory of the United States.”
If convicted, some of the suspects face up to five years in prison, while others are looking at life sentences.
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