Tren de Aragua

Tren de Aragua, Venezuela’s most powerful and far-reaching criminal organization. The organization emerged in the early 2010s as a prison gang in the Tocorón penitentiary in the Venezuelan state of Aragua but grew into a transnational organization with operations across South America. Its expansion followed the routes of Venezuelan migration, allowing the group to establish criminal cells in countries such as Colombia, Peru, and Chile. From within Tocorón, the gang maintained control over these external cells and profited from a wide range of illicit activities. In September 2023 the Venezuelan police and military raided the Tocorón prison to reassert state control, but the organization’s leadership escaped, and its transnational operations remain active. In response to growing concern about Tren de Aragua’s activities in the United States, the U.S Treasury Department officially designated the group a transnational criminal organization in July 2024. The U.S State Department also offered $12 million in reward money for information leading to the arrests of three of its senior leaders.

History

Tren de Aragua originated in the early 2010s inside Tocorón prison, located in Venezuela’s Aragua state. The organization’s name, which roughly translates to “the Aragua train” is thought to come from a labor union connected to an unfinished railway project in the region. Its rise was closely tied to Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, known as “Niño Guerrero,” a Tocorón inmate who became the gang’s leader. Under his control, the organization consolidated power inside the prison and began expanding its influence outward. Tocorón functioned not only as a prison but also as Tren de Aragua’s base of operations. Venezuelan authorities, following a broader pattern of prison self-governance, allowed inmates known as pranes, or criminal leaders, to effectively run the facility. With access to illicit revenue, the gang transformed Tocorón, adding amenities such as a swimming pool, zoo, nightclub, and restaurants—symbols of the criminal organization’s dominance within the prison system.

After establishing control of Tocorón prison, Tren de Aragua began expanding its influence beyond the prison walls. Its first area of control was nearby neighborhoods, where it enforced social order and reportedly received government support through one of the organization’s charitable fronts known as “Fundación Somos El Barrio JK.” Other gangs in Aragua and nearby states began entering into nonaggression agreements with Tren de Aragua. The organization gradually extended its reach to other parts of Venezuela through alliances with smaller gangs. About 2018 Tren de Aragua expanded and began operating across the Venezuela and Colombia border, particularly between the Venezuelan state of Táchira and Colombia’s Norte de Santander department. There, it competed with Colombian criminal groups such as the National Liberation Army and the Gaitanistas for control of border areas used for smuggling drugs, contraband, and migrants. Between 2018 and 2023 the group developed a transnational criminal network, establishing itself in Colombia, Peru, and Chile, with additional reports of activity in Ecuador, Bolivia, and Brazil. As its presence grew, it moved into local criminal economies, often using targeted violence to displace rival criminal groups. Its activities abroad include extortion, migrant smuggling, kidnapping, retail and small-scale international drug trafficking, human trafficking, loan sharking, and robbery. These cells often specialize in different activities depending on the local conditions.

Government and international responses

For years Venezuelan authorities tolerated Tren de Aragua’s control over the Tocorón prison, effectively allowing the gang to operate with autonomy. This changed in September 2023, when more than 11,000 police and military personnel conducted a large-scale operation to retake the facility. Despite law enforcement reclaiming the prison, the gang’s leadership managed to escape, and Tren de Aragua’s operations both domestically and internationally have persisted. Tren de Aragua’s expansion and use of violence have drawn increasing attention from law enforcement internationally.

Tren de Aragua’s expansion into South American countries such as Colombia, Peru, and Chile has prompted regional governments to take action. These countries have launched large-scale operations targeting the organization’s activities within their borders. For example, in Chile, authorities have collaborated with the International Criminal Court to investigate the gang’s alleged involvement in the politically motivated murder of Venezuelan dissident Ronald Ojeda, who was living in Santiago. The criminal organization’s growing international profile has also drawn attention from governments outside of the Latin American region, including the United States. In July 2024 the U.S. Department of the Treasury designated Tren de Aragua a transnational criminal organization, and the U.S. State Department announced $12 million in rewards for information leading to the arrests of three senior leaders. These actions marked a shift in how U.S. agencies view the group—not only as a regional threat but also as a security concern within U.S. borders.