Tren de Aragua — all you need to know about the Venezuelan gang
BOGOTA, Colombia — The Tren de Aragua, the Venezuelan gang that President Trump is targeting in his latest wave of deportations, formed in a Venezuelan prison but has branched out to become a multinational crime organization that has pulled off brazen attacks in places ranging from New York City to Santiago, Chile.
Tren de Aragua, Spanish for “the train of Aragua” was founded in 2014 in the Tocorón prison, in the central Venezuelan state of Aragua. It may have taken its name from a union of railroad workers building a train connection between Caracas and Aragua.
The gang largely controlled the Tocorón prison, where it ran a zoo, swimming pool, disco, restaurant and bar. From behind bars, its leaders ordered robberies, kidnappings and murders.
But as Venezuela sank into its worst economic meltdown in history and crime became less lucrative, the Tren de Aragua branched out overseas. It recruited new gang members from among the 8 million Venezuelans who had fled the country’s economic crisis. Initially, it established criminal cells in neighboring Colombia, Peru and Chile, where it smuggled drugs and people and operated extortion rackets and prostitution rings.
The Tren de Aragua’s most notorious alleged crime was the 2024 killing of Ronald Ojeda, a former Venezuelan army officer who conspired against Nicolás Maduro, the country’s authoritarian leader, then fled to Chile. Suspected gang member dressed as Chilean police officers abducted Ojeda from his apartment. Days later, his lifeless body was found stuffed in a suitcase and buried in cement. Two Tren de Aragua members have been arrested in the case.
The Tren de Aragua eventually expanded to the United States, which is home to about 700,000 Venezuelan migrants. Besides a wave of robberies, the Tren de Aragua is suspected in the shooting of two New York Police officers and the killing of a former Venezuelan police officer in Florida.
Gang members have been arrested in Pennsylvania, Florida, New York, Texas and California.
Last year, the Biden administration labelled Tren de Aragua as a transnational criminal organization, and in January, the U.S. government designated the Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization.
At the Supreme Court, the case of the candidate who sued, even though he won
At issue was a suit by Rep. Michael Bost, R-Ill., challenging an Illinois regulation that allows ballots mailed in by Election Day to be counted for up to 14 days after polls close.
Israel and Hamas agree on the ‘first phase’ of Gaza ceasefire deal
The deal raises the possibility that the war may now be over, ending the bloodiest fighting ever between Israelis and Palestinians.
After Spain’s blackout, critics blamed renewable energy. It’s part of a bigger attack
When millions lost power in Spain and Portugal this spring, some were quick to blame too much solar and wind power. That wasn't the cause, but the misinformation had an impact.
‘Fairyland’ recalls a girl’s life with her poet father in pre-AIDS San Francisco
Alysia Abbott's memoir about growing up in 1970s San Francisco with her gay, single father, has been adapted into a film directed by Andrew Durham and produced by Sofia Coppola.
Los Angeles: Spaghetti Cumbia, a band born from cultural fusion
Photographers and storytellers Karla Gachet and Ivan Kashinsky document cumbia music in Colombia, Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina and the United States.
What are your holiday shopping plans? NPR wants to hear from you
Is this the season of cutbacks or splurges? As we prepare to cover holiday shopping and deals, NPR wants to hear from you, whatever your plans may be.
