Tren de Aragua continues to expand its presence in the country. So much so that authorities already link the Venezuelan criminal organization to more than 100 investigations currently underway into criminal cases, according to federal officials who spoke with NBC News.
Members of the organization, which already has a presence in several Latin American countries, are entering the United States illegally through the southern border posing as asylum seekers. All this in the midst of an unprecedented immigration crisis generated by the policies of Joe Biden's government.
The information is discovered just weeks after it was published that the Customs and Border Protection Office included the Tren de Aragua in its list of gangs for fiscal year 2024. The list is published on the official CBP website.
With said list, border authorities keep track of the detention of alleged members of terrorist organizations. In the case of the criminal gang that was born in the Tocorón prison in north-central Venezuela, the CBP report details that since 2023 they have detained at least 47 people who allegedly belong to the group.
In that regard, the Tren de Aragua is located in sixth place on the list. While it was only surpassed by criminal gangs such as MS-13 (Maras Salvatruchas) and the Paisas (from Colombia).
The name of this criminal organization arose between 2013 and 2015 because its members were part of a workers' union working on the construction of a railway project (which was never completed) in the state of Aragua that extorted contractors and sold jobs on the projects.
