27 accused Tren de Aragua members hit with federal RICO charges in NYC

Sheetal Banchariya and Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News on Apr 22, 2025

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NEW YORK — More than two dozen Venezuelan immigrants linked to the notorious Tren de Aragua street gang have been arrested on federal murder, racketeering, drug and sex trafficking charges, officials said Tuesday.

The takedown by the FBI and the NYPD marks the first time members of the Venezuelan gang are facing charges under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, otherwise known as the RICO Act.

President Donald Trump’s Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and border czar Tom Homan joined Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch to detail the arrests at a press conference in Lower Manhattan.

The charges against the 27 defendants are part of a broader push by the president to prosecute and deport alleged members of foreign criminal gangs operating in the country.

In March, Trump invoked a seldom-used wartime law, the Alien Enemies Act, to deport hundreds of alleged Tren de Aragua members to a notoriously brutal prison in El Salvador without going through normal deportation procedures.

Tren de Aragua, the largest criminal organization in Venezuela with more than 5,000 members, has been named by the Trump Administration as a foreign terrorist organization. Its members have been linked to human trafficking, extortion, drug crimes, and murder in north and south America, officials said.

Members have surfaced in the U.S. over the last few years, including Midtown hotels that the city uses to house immigrants. President Trump was elected in part for his anti-immigration stance.

Those arrested in the take down include six Tren de Argua members as well as 19 members of a splinter group known as Anti Tren. The two groups often fought with each other, federal officials said. Of the 27 indicted, 21 were already in either federal, state or Immigration and Custom Enforcement custody.

Five defendants were rounded up Monday night in New York and other jurisdictions, federal authorities said.

“For the first time ever, TdA is being named and charged as the criminal enterprise that it is,” Tisch said. “This isn’t just street crime — it’s organized racketeering, and this gang has shown zero regard for the safety of New Yorkers.”

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