Nearly 1,300 Tren De Aragua Members Arrested Since 2025

The Trump administration has arrested 1,296 members of the Tren De Aragua terrorist group, with detained members including those accused of murder, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and theft.

“There is no sanctuary for these terrorists,” the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in an Oct. 15 X post, announcing the arrest number.

The White House termed it the “largest-ever federal anti-transnational crime operation,” and shared a media report from The Washington Examiner, which said the arrests happened between Jan. 20, 2025, and Oct. 8, 2026.

The campaign against Tren De Aragua has helped drive down violent crime nationwide, the White House said.

Tren de Aragua was designated a foreign terrorist organization and a specially designated global terrorist by the State Department last year.

The transnational organization originating in Venezuela has operational cells in multiple nations and carries out kidnappings and extortions, as well as authorizes members to attack and kill U.S. law enforcement personnel, the department said at the time.

The designation followed a January 2025 executive order from Trump, which cited Tren de Aragua as posing a national security threat to the United States.

Regarding the decline in criminal activity, crime rates have gone down to “historic lows” in the country, with homicides in the first half of 2026 down by 18 percent from the first half of 2025, DHS said in July.

Carjacking crimes were down 47 percent, motor vehicle thefts by 20 percent, robberies by 17 percent, and residential burglaries by 13 percent. The numbers were given in the context of overall criminal activity, and not attributed to any single organization.

Capturing Tren de Aragua Members

In July, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said that eight captured alleged Tren de Aragua members had been charged with kidnappings, murders, and firearms offenses. All individuals are believed to be Venezuelans who illegally entered the United States under the Biden administration.

In June, four Tren de Aragua members pleaded guilty to a double murder committed in 2024.

The DOJ noted in the statement that the purposes of Tren de Aragua include preserving the power and territory of the outfit and its members through acts such as assault and murder; enriching members by engaging in sex trafficking of young women, unlawful smuggling, drug trafficking, and armed robberies; and protecting Tren de Aragua members from law enforcement through threats and violence directed against witnesses to crimes committed by members.

“Since President Trump designated Tren de Aragua a foreign terrorist organization, the Department of Justice has charged nearly 350 of its members and associates with brutal violent crimes,” Attorney General Todd Blanche said in an Oct. 2 DOJ statement.

“We will continue to break up narcoterrorist finance networks, prosecute violent criminals, and keep American neighborhoods safe.”

In the same DOJ statement, the department announced the capture of Canelon Aguirre, a Tren de Aragua leader, who is featured on the FBI’s Top 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list.

Aguirre’s activities had helped fuel the criminal operations of Tren de Aragua, Assistant Attorney General A Tysen Duva of the DOJ’s Criminal Division said in the statement.

Aguirre allegedly orchestrated widespread ATM fraud in the United States, stealing millions of dollars from U.S. financial institutions and laundering the proceeds for Tren de Aragua members in various nations.

These activities, carried out with fellow members of the group, led the Department of the Treasury to sanction Tren de Aragua’s financial network.

“President Trump’s administration will not allow terrorist organizations like Tren de Aragua to exploit the U.S. financial system or enrich themselves through theft and other criminal activity targeting American individuals and businesses,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in the statement.