The US files first terrorism case against an alleged Tren de Aragua member

Antonio Maria Delgado, Miami Herald on Apr 24, 2025

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A federal court in Houston unsealed a five‑count indictment charging a Venezuelan man with terrorism‑related crimes — the first time an alleged member of the feared Tren de Aragua gang has been accused of providing support to a foreign terrorist organization on U.S. soil.

The indictments follow the Trump administration’s February decision to designate the Venezuelan gang as a foreign terrorist organization.

José Enrique Martínez Flores, 24, known as “Chuqui,” stands accused of providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization and engaging in a cocaine distribution conspiracy that spanned from Colombia to the United States. If convicted, Martínez Flores could face life imprisonment and a $10 million fine.

Colombian authorities apprehended Martínez Flores on March 31, acting on a provisional arrest warrant from the U.S. He remains in Colombian custody as extradition proceedings unfold. U.S. prosecutors contend that he held a high-ranking position within the gang’s Bogotá cell and was a member of the organization’s inner circle.

“Tren de Aragua is not a street gang — it is a highly structured terrorist organization that put down roots in our country during the prior administration,” U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in announcing the charges. She called the indictment “an inflection point in how this Department of Justice will prosecute and ultimately dismantle this evil organization, which has destroyed American families and poisoned our communities.”

According to the indictment, Martínez Flores conspired to provide the gang with personnel and services inside the United States, participated in an international drug trafficking operation to fund the gang’s operations, and orchestrated multiple cocaine shipments for global distribution.

Last February, the State Department designated the gang — alongside six Mexican cartels and the Mara Salvatrucha MS‑13 gang — as a foreign terrorist organization. That designation unlocks a range of legal, economic and military tools to disrupt and punish anyone who materially supports the groups.

The presence of Tren the Aragua in the United States is one of the central arguments in the Trump administration’s efforts to deport hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans who have not yet been able to regularize their immigration status in the country.

Members of the Venezuelan gang have been detected in some US cities, but they represent a tiny fraction of the more than 900,000 Venezuelans currently living in the country.

The gang, which originated in the overcrowded Tocorón prison in the Venezuelan state of Aragua, operates as a loosely organized criminal syndicate, serving as a coordinating organization for smaller gangs specializing in all types of crimes, from kidnapping, extortion, and drug trafficking to prostitution, robbery and contract killings.