DOJ: Tren de Aragua Leaders Among Four Venezuelans Charged with Terrorism in Texas

HOUSTON, Texas — The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York charged four Venezuelan nationals, including suspected leaders of the violent Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang and one of FBI Houston’s “Top Ten” fugitives, as part of a nationwide crackdown that has now netted more than 70 alleged members tied to murders, kidnappings, and drug trafficking. TdA is designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

“Hector Guerrero Flores is the alleged leader of a Venezuelan foreign terrorist organization sowing violence, murder, and misery into communities and nations throughout the Western Hemisphere,” said FBI Houston Special Agent in Charge Douglas Williams.  “Under the leadership of Guerrero Flores, Tren de Aragua translates the suffering and death of thousands into profits for its members.  Tren de Aragua, under the guidance of Guerrero Flores, saw members commit murders; violent robberies; sex trafficking; and weapons and narcotics trafficking impacting communities across the United States.”

Guerro Flores, known as “Niño Guerrero,” “El Cejón,” and“El Innombrable,” was indicted in the Southern District of New York, according to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He is charged with his alleged role as a leader in the TdA transnational criminal organization. His whereabouts are currently not known, prosecutors stated. The DOJ announced a $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest and/or conviction.

“As alleged, Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores has been the mastermind of Tren de Aragua’s evolution from a Venezuelan prison gang into a transnational terrorist organization that committed countless acts of violence, extortion, and drug trafficking all over North America, South America, and Europe,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. “In the Southern District of New York, we have now charged over 30 members or associates of Tren de Aragua with federal crimes, and we are committed to bankrupting the cartels and transnational gangs who flood our streets with deadly drugs and pursue death, violence and corruption as a way of life.”

The federal indictment reveals:

GUERRERO FLORES and others known and unknown were members and associates of TdA, a criminal organization that operated throughout North America, South America, and Europe, including in the United States, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Brazil, Mexico, and Spain.  TdA—literally meaning “Train from Aragua”—originated in the Venezuelan state of Aragua in the 2000s, and TdA used the Tocorón Prison in Aragua as a center of operations to orchestrate and conduct criminal activities.  TdA was largely composed of persons from South America, mostly from Venezuela.  In the following years, gang members and associates left Venezuela and spread throughout North, South, and Central America and Spain, which expanded TdA’s presence.

TdA members and associates established a presence in other countries in South America, Central America, and the United States by engaging in the following pattern of behavior: First, TdA members and associates infiltrated other countries by illegally crossing their borders and finding cities and other residential neighborhoods where they could easily establish control over civilian populations. Next, TdA members and associates committed crimes and other acts of terrorism to assert control over their territory and enrich themselves through extortions, kidnappings, robberies, murders, drug trafficking, prostitution, sex trafficking, and trafficking of guns, grenades, and ammunition.  Many of the crimes and acts of terrorism committed by TdA members and associates were ordered, directed, facilitated, or otherwise supported by TdA leadership in South America, including GUERRERO FLORES.  Finally, TdA members and associates would spread to other locations, forming cells with their own local leadership and structure.  TdA’s violent tactics often resulted in entire neighborhoods and apartment buildings being subject to TdA’s control.  TdA members and associates laundered the proceeds of their criminal activities, including through cryptocurrency, and transmitted a portion of the proceeds to TdA leadership in South America, including GUERRERO FLORES.

Through this pattern of behavior, TdA members and associates established a strong gang presence in other countries in South America, Central America, North America and Europe, like Colombia, Peru, Chile, Brazil, Mexico and Spain.  TdA members and associates also illegally crossed the border into the United States and established a presence in various parts of the country, including New York, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Nebraska, Illinois, and Florida.  As a result, TdA operated as a national and international criminal organization with its members and associates regularly conducting gang activities and acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries across the Western Hemisphere.

TdA members and associates also worked in concert with some of the largest cocaine trafficking organizations in the world, including the Cártel de los Soles, or “Cartel of the Suns.”  The Cártel de los Soles is and, at all relevant times, was, a Venezuelan drug-trafficking organization comprised of high-ranking Venezuelan government officials who corrupted the legitimate institutions of Venezuela to facilitate the importation of tons of cocaine into the United States, including through the use of maritime drug distribution routes with boats and ships carrying hundreds or thousands of kilograms of narcotics, including cocaine.  It is and was the goal of the Cártel de los Soles to “flood” the United States with cocaine, as it has sought to weaponize the drug and inflict its harmful and addictive effects on users in the United States.  Members and associates of the Cártel de los Soles have included, among others, the most powerful politicians in Venezuela, former military officials, and some of the largest and most violent cocaine traffickers in the world.  In turn, certain of these politicians have controlled the locations from which TdA grew in power and influence.  Members and associates of the Cártel de los Soles relied upon corruption and violence as they transported cocaine from Venezuela en route to the United States.  In Venezuela, politicians aided cocaine traffickers by offering them safe passage for their cocaine, protection from arrest, and, at times, the support of the police and military.  And Cártel de los Soles’s cocaine traffickers relied on violence throughout their cocaine distribution route—including the use of firearms, kidnappings, and murder—to protect their cocaine, their distribution networks, and themselves.

For over a decade, GUERRERO FLORES served as either the leader or co-leader of TdA, acting as the mastermind over TdA’s expansion across the Western Hemisphere. During much of that time, GUERRERO FLORES operated from Tocorón Prison, where the Venezuelan government allowed GUERRERO FLORES to control the day-to-day operations of the prison. Under GUERRERO FLORES’s direction, TdA members and associates engaged in a wide range of crimes, including extortions, kidnappings, murders, drug trafficking, gun trafficking, prostitution, sex trafficking, robberies, bank burglaries, and money laundering. GUERRERO FLORES and other high-level leaders of TdA would collect a “causa” or fee from income generated by lower-level members of TdA, thereby enriching themselves from income earned by other TdA members.  As the leader of TdA, while operating from Venezuela and elsewhere, GUERRERO FLORES ordered, directed, facilitated, and supported acts of violence and terrorism transcending national boundaries, including murders, kidnappings, extortions, and maiming against victims located inside and outside the United States.

GUERRERO FLORES and other members and leaders of TdA also worked with several of the largest cocaine traffickers in Venezuela to transport tons of cocaine from Venezuela for eventual distribution in the United States. GUERRERO FLORES both directed and personally facilitated the transportation of this cocaine by supplying teams of heavily armed individuals to protect and transport cocaine shipments for his trafficking partners and associates. These individuals were armed with, among other automatic weapons, AK-47s, MP5s, and AR-15s, as well as grenades.

The cocaine that GUERRERO FLORES helped distribute was manufactured in Colombia and Venezuela. The cocaine shipments were then transported from their point of origin and flown from clandestine airstrips or transported by maritime routes from Venezuela to Central America. From there, drug trafficking associates working with the Venezuelan distributors transported this cocaine north, through Mexico, and across the U.S. border. These drug trafficking associates included members of the largest, most violent, narcotics trafficking organizations in Mexico. At times, GUERRERO FLORES personally accompanied large cocaine loads as they were guarded by teams of armed men, en route to airports or airstrips for transport north and eventual distribution to the United States. GUERRERO FLORES was paid a fee per kilogram transported or received an interest in portions of these massive cocaine shipments in lieu of payment. The traffickers that GUERRERO FLORES worked with moved thousands of kilograms per shipment, multiple times per month, resulting in the distribution of hundreds of tons of cocaine to the United States.

The terrorist organization leader is charged with “participating in a racketeering conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison; cocaine importation conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of life and a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison; and using and carrying firearms, machineguns, and destructive devices in furtherance of drug trafficking, which carries a maximum sentence of life and a mandatory minimum of 30 years in prison.”