The U.S. government sanctioned the head of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang, Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, and its five other key leaders and affiliates Thursday, citing involvement in various criminal activities.
The Treasury Department said Tren de Aragua is a threat to public safety throughout the Western world and is involved in the illicit drug trade, extortion, human smuggling and trafficking, money laundering, sexual exploitation of women and children, and other criminal conduct.
“Today’s action highlights the critical role of leaders like Niño Guerrero and his lieutenants in Tren de Aragua’s efforts to increase its destabilizing influence throughout the region,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a Thursday statement.
“The Trump Administration will not allow Tren de Aragua to continue to terrorize our communities and harm innocent Americans,” Bessent added. “In line with President Trump’s mandate to Make America Safe Again, Treasury remains dedicated to dismantling Tren de Aragua and disrupting the group’s campaign of violence.”
Tren de Aragua, which originated in Venezuela, was designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the State Department on Feb. 20.
Apart from Guerrero Flores, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Yohan Jose Romero, Josue Angel Santana Peña, Wilmer José Perez Castillo, Guerrero Flores’s wife Wendy Marbelys Rios Gomez, and Felix Anner Castillo Rondon.
Thursday’s sanctions will block all property and interests in property of the six people. Also, any entities owned directly or indirectly at a 50 percent rate or more will be blocked.
Jose Romero, a close lieutenant of Guerrero Flores, has been responsible for Tren de Aragua’s illegal mining efforts in Venezuela, along with providing the criminal gang with military-grade weapons, according to the Treasury Department.
The State Department, through the Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program, is offering up to $5 million for information that leads to the arrest or conviction of Guerrero Flores.
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