DOJ charges over 25 people in nationwide crackdown on Tren de Aragua

The Department of Justice on Monday announced criminal charges against more than 25 people in a nationwide crackdown targeting Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang, saying the operation resulted in the seizure of more than 80 firearms and 40 pounds of narcotics across multiple states.

Federal prosecutors said the defendants, many of whom they said are Venezuelan, Colombian, and Honduran nationals in the United States illegally, were charged as part of the Homeland Security Task Force investigations targeting the gang, which the Trump administration designated a foreign terrorist organization in January 2025.

The cases were across six federal jurisdictions, including Colorado, southern Florida, northern Indiana, middle and western Tennessee, and eastern Washington.

The charges vary by case but include firearms trafficking, drug trafficking, money laundering, and possession of firearms in furtherance of drug crimes, according to the DOJ. Prosecutors allege the defendants played roles in criminal networks tied to Tren de Aragua,