Greater than two dozen Venezuelan immigrants linked to the infamous Tren de Aragua avenue gang have been arrested on federal homicide, racketeering, drug and intercourse trafficking expenses, officers mentioned Tuesday.
The takedown by the FBI and the NYPD marks the primary time members of the Venezuelan gang are going through expenses below the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, in any other case referred to as the RICO Act.
President Trump’s Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem and Border Czar Tom Homan joined Mayor Adams and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch to element the arrests at a press convention in Decrease Manhattan.
The fees towards the 27 defendants are a part of a broader push by the president to prosecute and deport alleged members of international prison gangs working within the nation.
Secretary of Homeland Safety Kristi Noem. (REBECCA NOBLE/POOL/AFP through Getty Photographs)
In March, Trump invoked a seldom-used wartime regulation, the Alien Enemies Act, to deport lots of of alleged Tren de Aragua members to a notoriously brutal jail in El Salvador with out going by way of regular deportation procedures.
Tren de Aragua, the biggest prison group in Venezuela with greater than 5,000 members, has been named by the Trump Administration as a international terrorist group. Its members have been linked to human trafficking, extortion, drug crimes, and homicide in north and south America, officers mentioned.
Members have surfaced within the U.S. over the previous couple of years, together with Midtown resorts that the town makes use of to accommodate immigrants. President Trump was elected partly for his anti-immigration stance.
Mayor Eric Adams. (Rod Lamkey, Jr./AP)
These arrested within the take down embody six Tren de Argua members in addition to 19 members of a splinter group referred to as Anti Tren. The 2 teams typically fought with one another, federal officers mentioned. Of the 27 indicted, 21 had been already in both federal, state or Immigration and Customized Enforcement (ICE) custody.
5 defendants had been rounded up Monday night time in New York and different jurisdictions, federal authorities mentioned.
“For the first time ever, TdA is being named and charged as the criminal enterprise that it is,” Tisch mentioned. “This isn’t just street crime — it’s organized racketeering, and this gang has shown zero regard for the safety of New Yorkers.”
Initially Printed: April 22, 2025 at 2:18 PM EDT
