Leader Of Tren De Aragua Charged In Manhattan Federal Court With Racketeering, Terrorism, Drug Importation, And Firearms Offenses

            United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, Special Agent in Charge of the Special Operations Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), Louis A. D’Ambrosio, Co-Director of Joint Task Force Vulcan (“JTFV”), Jacob Warren, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), Ricky J. Patel, Special Agent in Charge of the Houston Field Office of the FBI, Douglas Williams, and Special Agent in Charge of the Andean Division of the DEA, Eugene L. Crouch, announced today the unsealing of an Indictment charging HECTOR RUSTHENFORD GUERRERO FLORES, a/k/a “Niño Guerrero,” a/k/a “El Cejón,” a/k/a “El Innombrable,”^[1] in connection with GUERRERO FLORES’s leadership role in Tren de Aragua (“TdA” or the “Enterprise”), a transnational criminal organization operating throughout North America, South America, and Europe, which has also been designated as a foreign terrorist organization.  GUERRERO FLORES is currently at large.  The U.S. Department of State is offering rewards of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of GUERRERO FLORES.  The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Andrew L. Carter, Jr.

“As alleged, Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores has been the mastermind of Tren de Aragua’s evolution from a Venezuelan prison gang into a transnational terrorist organization that committed countless acts of violence, extortion, and drug trafficking all over North America, South America, and Europe,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton.  “In the Southern District of New York, we have now charged over 30 members or associates of Tren de Aragua with federal crimes, and we are committed to bankrupting the cartels and transnational gangs who flood our streets with deadly drugs and pursue death, violence and corruption as a way of life.  This is what New Yorkers want, and it is what they deserve.”

“Guerrero Flores operated Tren de Aragua like a multinational crime syndicate—laundering money through cryptocurrency, trafficking drugs by the ton, selling weapons of war, and orchestrating acts of terror across borders,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Louis A. D’Ambrosio.  “He ran this empire from prison, shielded by corruption, and in collaboration with a narco-state cartel intent on flooding the United States with cocaine.  This case exemplifies today’s threat: criminal organizations that function like terrorists and terrorize like insurgents. DEA and our partners are dismantling them piece by piece—targeting their leadership, finances, weapons, and networks.”

“For more than a decade, as alleged in the Indictment unsealed today, Nino Guerrero has led TdA from its inception as a prison gang in Venezuela to a transnational terrorist organization,” said JTFV Co-Director Jacob Warren.  “TdA has inflicted widespread harm in the United States through extortions, kidnappings, murders, drug trafficking, gun trafficking, prostitution, sex trafficking, robberies, bank burglaries, and money laundering.  The charges unsealed today in the Southern District of New York are directly in line with JTFV’s mission: a collaborative, whole of government effort, to destroy TdA.  We are grateful for our partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and our law enforcement partners who worked tirelessly to investigate and bring these important charges.”          

“As alleged, Niño Guerrero has for decades led one of the fastest-emerging foreign terrorist organizations to encroach upon American soil: Tren de Aragua,” said HSI Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel.  “This reputed leader grew TdA from a Venezuela-based prison gang to the vile, vicious organization it has become.  Together with our partners, HSI and the HSTF New York will continue to wage an unyielding campaign against cartels, drug traffickers, and transnational criminal organizations who seek to sow destruction and death.  Together, we will ensure that no corners of their criminal empires are beyond the reach of justice.”

“Hector Guerrero Flores is the alleged leader of a Venezuelan foreign terrorist organization sowing violence, murder, and misery into communities and nations throughout the Western Hemisphere,” said FBI Houston Special Agent in Charge Douglas Williams.  “Under the leadership of Guerrero Flores, Tren de Aragua translates the suffering and death of thousands into profits for its members.  Tren de Aragua, under the guidance of Guerrero Flores, saw members commit murders; violent robberies; sex trafficking; and weapons and narcotics trafficking impacting communities across the United States.”

“DEA is unwavering in its mission to dismantle the command and control of Tren de Aragua, a designated foreign terrorist organization that thrives on drug trafficking and violence,” said Special Agent in Charge Eugene L. Crouch of the DEA Andean Division.  “For years, TdA has exploited corruption to expand its reach and evade justice, but those days are over. DEA is relentlessly targeting TdA’s leadership, financial networks, and infrastructure, and we will not rest until these individuals are brought to justice.  We are grateful to the Colombian National Police and the Colombian Attorney General’s Office for their invaluable partnership in this investigation.”

According to the allegations in the Indictment unsealed today in Manhattan federal court:[1]

GUERRERO FLORES and others known and unknown were members and associates of TdA, a criminal organization that operated throughout North America, South America, and Europe, including in the United States, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Brazil, Mexico, and Spain.  TdA—literally meaning “Train from Aragua”—originated in the Venezuelan state of Aragua in the 2000s, and TdA used the Tocorón Prison in Aragua as a center of operations to orchestrate and conduct criminal activities.  TdA was largely composed of persons from South America, mostly from Venezuela.  In the following years, gang members and associates left Venezuela and spread throughout North, South, and Central America and Spain, which expanded TdA’s presence.

TdA members and associates established a presence in other countries in South America, Central America, and the United States by engaging in the following pattern of behavior: First, TdA members and associates infiltrated other countries by illegally crossing their borders and finding cities and other residential neighborhoods where they could easily establish control over civilian populations. Next, TdA members and associates committed crimes and other acts of terrorism to assert control over their territory and enrich themselves through extortions, kidnappings, robberies, murders, drug trafficking, prostitution, sex trafficking, and trafficking of guns, grenades, and ammunition.  Many of the crimes and acts of terrorism committed by TdA members and associates were ordered, directed, facilitated, or otherwise supported by TdA leadership in South America, including GUERRERO FLORES.  Finally, TdA members and associates would spread to other locations, forming cells with their own local leadership and structure.  TdA’s violent tactics often resulted in entire neighborhoods and apartment buildings being subject to TdA’s control.  TdA members and associates laundered the proceeds of their criminal activities, including through cryptocurrency, and transmitted a portion of the proceeds to TdA leadership in South America, including GUERRERO FLORES.

Through this pattern of behavior, TdA members and associates established a strong gang presence in other countries in South America, Central America, North America and Europe, like Colombia, Peru, Chile, Brazil, Mexico and Spain.  TdA members and associates also illegally crossed the border into the United States and established a presence in various parts of the country, including New York, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Nebraska, Illinois, and Florida.  As a result, TdA operated as a national and international criminal organization with its members and associates regularly conducting gang activities and acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries across the Western Hemisphere.

TdA members and associates also worked in concert with some of the largest cocaine trafficking organizations in the world, including the Cártel de los Soles, or “Cartel of the Suns.”  The Cártel de los Soles is and, at all relevant times, was, a Venezuelan drug-trafficking organization comprised of high-ranking Venezuelan government officials who corrupted the legitimate institutions of Venezuela to facilitate the importation of tons of cocaine into the United States, including through the use of maritime drug distribution routes with boats and ships carrying hundreds or thousands of kilograms of narcotics, including cocaine.  It is and was the goal of the Cártel de los Soles to “flood” the United States with cocaine, as it has sought to weaponize the drug and inflict its harmful and addictive effects on users in the United States.  Members and associates of the Cártel de los Soles have included, among others, the most powerful politicians in Venezuela, former military officials, and some of the largest and most violent cocaine traffickers in the world.  In turn, certain of these politicians have controlled the locations from which TdA grew in power and influence.  Members and associates of the Cártel de los Soles relied upon corruption and violence as they transported cocaine from Venezuela en route to the United States.  In Venezuela, politicians aided cocaine traffickers by offering them safe passage for their cocaine, protection from arrest, and, at times, the support of the police and military.  And Cártel de los Soles’s cocaine traffickers relied on violence throughout their cocaine distribution route—including the use of firearms, kidnappings, and murder—to protect their cocaine, their distribution networks, and themselves.

For over a decade, GUERRERO FLORES served as either the leader or co-leader of TdA, acting as the mastermind over TdA’s expansion across the Western Hemisphere. During much of that time, GUERRERO FLORES operated from Tocorón Prison, where the Venezuelan government allowed GUERRERO FLORES to control the day-to-day operations of the prison. Under GUERRERO FLORES’s direction, TdA members and associates engaged in a wide range of crimes, including extortions, kidnappings, murders, drug trafficking, gun trafficking, prostitution, sex trafficking, robberies, bank burglaries, and money laundering. GUERRERO FLORES and other high-level leaders of TdA would collect a “causa” or fee from income generated by lower-level members of TdA, thereby enriching themselves from income earned by other TdA members.  As the leader of TdA, while operating from Venezuela and elsewhere, GUERRERO FLORES ordered, directed, facilitated, and supported acts of violence and terrorism transcending national boundaries, including murders, kidnappings, extortions, and maiming against victims located inside and outside the United States.

GUERRERO FLORES and other members and leaders of TdA also worked with several of the largest cocaine traffickers in Venezuela to transport tons of cocaine from Venezuela for eventual distribution in the United States. GUERRERO FLORES both directed and personally facilitated the transportation of this cocaine by supplying teams of heavily armed individuals to protect and transport cocaine shipments for his trafficking partners and associates. These individuals were armed with, among other automatic weapons, AK-47s, MP5s, and AR-15s, as well as grenades.

The cocaine that GUERRERO FLORES helped distribute was manufactured in Colombia and Venezuela. The cocaine shipments were then transported from their point of origin and flown from clandestine airstrips or transported by maritime routes from Venezuela to Central America. From there, drug trafficking associates working with the Venezuelan distributors transported this cocaine north, through Mexico, and across the U.S. border. These drug trafficking associates included members of the largest, most violent, narcotics trafficking organizations in Mexico. At times, GUERRERO FLORES personally accompanied large cocaine loads as they were guarded by teams of armed men, en route to airports or airstrips for transport north and eventual distribution to the United States. GUERRERO FLORES was paid a fee per kilogram transported or received an interest in portions of these massive cocaine shipments in lieu of payment. The traffickers that GUERRERO FLORES worked with moved thousands of kilograms per shipment, multiple times per month, resulting in the distribution of hundreds of tons of cocaine to the United States.

In addition, GUERRERO FLORES also sold firearms to large-scale cocaine traffickers operating out of Venezuela. These traffickers purchased from GUERRERO FLORES automatic weapons including AK-47s, MP5s, and AR-15s, and then used the weapons they purchased from GUERRERO FLORES to protect their cocaine loads.

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GUERRERO FLORES, 42, of Venezuela, is charged with participating in a racketeering conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison; cocaine importation conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of life and a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison; and using and carrying firearms, machineguns, and destructive devices in furtherance of drug trafficking, which carries a maximum sentence of life and a mandatory minimum of 30 years in prison.

The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.

Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding investigative work of DEA’s Bilateral Investigations Unit and Bogotá Country Office, HSI New York, FBI Houston, and the New York City Police Department.  Mr. Clayton also thanked Colombia’s Office of the Attorney General; Colombian National Police’s Unified Action Group for Liberty (“GAULA”); Araphoe County District Attorney’s Office; Aurora Police Department in Aurora, Colorado; New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force of the U.S. Marshals Service (“USMS”); U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s National Gang Unit and New York Human Intelligence Division; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s New York Enforcement and Removal Operations; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (“ATF”); the New York City Crime Analysis Center at the New York/New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area; the Harris County Sheriff’s Office; and the Houston Police for their assistance with the investigation. 

This case is part of JTFV, which was created in 2019 to eradicate MS-13 and now expanded to target Tren de Aragua, and is comprised of U.S. Attorney’s Offices across the country. Those include Southern and Eastern Districts of New York; Eastern and Western Districts of North Carolina; Eastern and Western Districts of Virginia;  Southern District of Florida; Eastern District of Texas;  Western District of Oklahoma; Northern District of Indiana; and the District of Nevada; , as well as the as well as the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys  Department of Justice’s National Security Division and the Criminal Division. Additionally, the FBI, DEA, HSI, ATF, USMS, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons are essential law enforcement partners with JTFV. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and the Criminal Division’s Office of Judicial Attaché in Bogotá, Colombia, has also provided significant assistance.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Justice Department to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhood.

This case is being handled by the Office’s Violent Organizations & Crime Unit, National Security & International Narcotics Unit, and JTFV. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nicholas S. Bradley, Andrew K. Chan, Kaylan E. Lasky, Henry L. Ross, Kevin T. Sullivan, Kyle A. Wirshba, and Jun Xiang are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from Trial Attorneys Jason Harley and Josie Thomas from JTFV. 

The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.