Trump Admin Targets 25 ‘Terrorists’ In Tren De Aragua Crackdown

President Donald Trump’s administration carried out a recent crackdown on the Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua, hitting 25 alleged members of the criminal organization with federal charges.

The Department of Justice announced Monday that it filed charges in six states against the accused gangbangers for firearms trafficking, drug trafficking, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, among others. Many of the accused are illegal immigrants from Venezuela, Colombia, and Honduras, the Justice Department said.

The operation took place the last week of April, resulting in the seizure of more than 80 firearms and roughly 18 kilograms of drugs, including fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine, ecstasy, ketamine, MDMA, and Tusi, or pink cocaine, a mixed substance that contains ketamine and/or MDMA. Federal authorities also confiscated more than $100,000.

“In a few days, the Justice Department and its partners on Joint Task Force Vulcan carried out a nationwide takedown of vicious Tren de Aragua terrorist networks — depraved, violent offenders who have illegally invaded our country and preyed upon American communities,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement Monday.

“This effort underscores the Trump Administration’s dedication to restoring public safety, dismantling violent firearms and drug trafficking networks, and enforcing law and order,” Blanche said.

As part of the recent sweep, the Trump administration targeted two Venezuelan nationals in Colorado accused of selling numerous firearms to a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) undercover agent. The department said the pair came to the United States during former President Joe Biden’s administration.

Between October 2025 and April 2026, Wilmer Jose Bolano-Sanchez and Jeremmy Andres Boscan-Delfin sold seven firearms, including two firearms with obliterated serial numbers, to an undercover ATF agent, according to court documents. They also allegedly sold the undercover federal agent several high-capacity firearm magazines, including a 60-round drum magazine, and ammunition.

The undercover ATF agent, along with a confidential informant working with federal authorities, told the accused that they planned to take the guns to Mexico, according to court documents. Boscan-Delfin also allegedly sold tusi to the undercover agent, who said he was going to bring it to girls at a club in Colorado Springs.

Federal authorities arrested five individuals, three of whom are illegal immigrants living in Tennessee, for allegedly trafficking firearms and narcotics. Two of the accused are believed to be associates of Tren de Aragua or of the gang’s splinter faction “Anti-Tren.”

During multiple undercover operations targeting the group, federal authorities seized 25 firearms, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, extended magazines, a drum magazine, more than $8,000 cash, as well as methamphetamine, MDMA, ketamine, and cocaine, according to the Justice Department. Eight of the 25 guns were previously reported as stolen, while two were tied to previous shootings that occurred in Nashville.

Three other illegal immigrants with alleged ties to Tren de Aragua are accused of working as associates of another federally charged defendant accused of having ties to the Venezuelan gang, according to the Justice Department. The associates allegedly were part of the sales of large amounts of narcotics and firearms that took place in Florida.

ATF agents seized 500 MDMA pills, two firearms, cocaine, ketamine, and methamphetamine while investigating the trio.

Since Trump’s second inauguration, the Justice Department has hit more than 260 members and associates of Tren de Aragua with federal charges.

Tren de Aragua originated as a prison gang in Venezuela. Its members began flooding across the U.S.-Mexico border when the Biden administration was releasing illegal migrants en masse.

A number of the gangbangers came across the border without tattoos or markings showing their affiliation with the gang, making it difficult for them to be easily identified by sight. The federal government at the time also had no cooperation with the Venezuelan regime to access criminal histories.

Many of the illegal border crossers ended up in cities like Aurora, Colorado, where they took over apartment complexes and terrorized residents.

The gang has also been tied to sex trafficking rings across the country and has made pink cocaine its drug of choice. A member of the gang also murdered 22-year-old Georgia nursing student Laken Riley while she was out for a run in February 2024.

On the campaign trail, Trump pledged to carry out “Operation Aurora” to “target and dismantle every migrant criminal network operating on American soil.”