Is a Notorious Venezuelan Gang Seeking to Operate in the U.S.? This Is What an Investigation Found Out

Republicans in the U.S. have recently voiced their concern over the alleged presence and activities of Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, with federal lawmakers urging President Joe Biden to designate it as a transnational criminal organization, citing the group's purported spread of "brutality and chaos" within US borders.

However, an investigation by specialized outlet InSight crime, which included inquiries to law enforcement agencies across various levels of government, has revealed scant evidence supporting such claims.

Reports linking Tren de Aragua members to criminal activities in the United States have surfaced sporadically in recent months. However, the investigation said, these incidents appear to have been isolated and lack clear ties to the gang's leadership in Venezuela.

There have been high-profile cases where the perpetrator of a crime was linked to the organization. One of them was the murder of university student Laken Raley in Georgia, allegedly by José Antonio Ibarra, an undocumented Venezuelan migrant. Federal prosecutors said that Ibarra had tattoos and flashed hand signs that suggested a link with the group, but fell short from expressly linking them. Moreover, InSight crime noted that tattoos are not an identification symbol in Tren de Aragua, as it might be the case with El Salvador's MS-13.

The killing of a Venezuelan ex-police officer near Miami also drew attention and links to Tren de Aragua, but authorities didn't establish direct connections to its larger operations either. "This individual has knowledge of members of this organization ... But that's all they have," Detective Alvaro Zabaleta told the outlet. "We don't have any crimes that we can say are associated to them."

Moreover, a search in a legal database didn't find other criminal cases mentioning the gang either at state or federal level.

Despite Republican lawmakers claiming in the letter that Tren de Aragua members were involved in heinous crimes like child rape, investigations have failed to substantiate such allegations. Major law enforcement agencies in urban centers across the US, including Los Angeles, Phoenix, and New York City, report no notable presence or criminal activity linked to the gang within their jurisdictions. The only specific mention came from NYPD, which told local outlets that Tren de Aragua was linked to a series of cell phone robberies.

US Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have made statements suggesting encounters with alleged Tren de Aragua members, particularly at the border. And ICE announced that it arrested an alleged member near Chicago in early March. However, the outlet noted that it isn't clear how the agency verified the suspect's connection to the gang.

While Tren de Aragua has expanded its operations across South America, leveraging migrant flows and establishing strongholds in border regions, replicating this model in the United States poses significant challenges. The gang's lack of control over smuggling and trafficking routes, which are dominated by Mexican groups, limits its ability to establish a foothold. Additionally, well-established criminal organizations already control various illicit markets in the US, posing further barriers to Tren de Aragua's expansion.

Despite the limited evidence of Tren de Aragua's presence in the United States, exaggerating the threat posed by the gang could inadvertently fuel its notoriety and attract potential imposters, InSight crime warned. Law enforcement officials caution against overstating the group's influence, emphasizing the importance of evidence-based assessments to avoid unnecessary panic and misinformation.