Tren de Aragua

Venezuelan prison gang that expanded internationally amid the country's economic collapse. - Designated Foreign Terrorist Organization and Transnational Criminal Organization

The Alien Enemies Act has been invoked only four times in American history—during the War of 1812, World War I, World War II, and now. In March 2025, President Trump became the first president to use the 1798 wartime statute outside of a declared war, targeting alleged members of Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang and sending 137 men to El Salvador's maximum-security CECOT prison within 24 hours. On February 12, 2026, a federal judge ordered the government to facilitate their return to the United States, ruling they were denied the right to challenge their removal.

Updated Feb 12

A transnational gang born in Venezuela's Tocorón prison, now operating across Latin America and the U.S. - Venezuelan prison gang with expanding U.S. presence

Delta Force dragged Nicolás Maduro from his bedroom at 2 AM on January 3, threw him on a helicopter, and flew him to the USS Iwo Jima bound for Manhattan. The Venezuelan president now faces narco-terrorism charges in the same courthouse that convicted El Chapo. His wife Cilia Flores—indicted for the first time—sits in the cell next to him with fractured ribs and head injuries from the raid. On January 5, both pleaded not guilty. Maduro told the judge he remains Venezuela's president and declared himself a 'prisoner of war.'

Updated Jan 5

Venezuela's most powerful transnational gang, born inside Tocorón prison and now operating across Latin America and the United States. - Designated Foreign Terrorist Organization by U.S., primary target of strikes

The CIA just struck Venezuelan soil. On December 30, President Trump confirmed the first known U.S. land attack inside Venezuela—a drone strike on a coastal dock allegedly used by the Tren de Aragua gang to load drug boats. No one was there when the missiles hit. Meanwhile, in the Pacific that same day, a U.S. strike on another boat killed two more people, bringing total deaths to at least 107 since September.

Updated Dec 30, 2025