Tren de Aragua senior leadership charged with terrorism and international drug distribution

HOUSTON - A six-count second superseding indictment has been unsealed, charging four Venezuelan nationals, including multiple alleged high-ranking members of Tren de Aragua - a designated foreign terrorist organization, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.   

The indictment adds charges against Yohan Jose Romero aka Johan Petrica, 48, and Juan Gabriel Rivas Nunez aka Juancho, 44, for conspiring to provide and providing material support to TdA. Also charged in those counts are Giovanni Vicente Mosquera Serrano aka El Viejo, 37, and Jose Enrique Martinez Flores aka Chuqui, 24. Mosquera Serrano and Martinez Flores are also under indictment for conspiracy and distribution of cocaine in Colombia intended for distribution in the United States.

“Tren de Aragua poses a direct threat to our national security, to our communities, and to our American way of life,” said Ganjei. “These defendants allegedly conspired to support a highly-structured foreign terrorist organization by smuggling bulk quantities of cocaine across our southern border and funneling the proceeds back to their fellow terrorists in Venezuela. The Southern District of Texas will scour the Earth to find and prosecute narco-terrorists, wherever they may hide. The American people have demanded nothing less than the total elimination of foreign terror groups like TdA, and Operation Take Back America will deliver.”

“TdA grew from a prison gang to a transnational criminal organization to a foreign terrorist organization,” said Co-Director Christopher Eason of Joint Task Force Vulcan. “Gold and drug trafficking, and violence and extortion to support TdA’s terrorist activities will not be tolerated. The charges unsealed today against TdA members and, specifically, some of the highest leaders of TdA, is 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 Texas and our law enforcement partners who worked tirelessly to investigate and bring these important charges.”

A federal grand jury in Houston returned a second superseding indictment Dec. 16, which has now been unsealed in its entirety.  

According to court records, Jose Romero and Mosquera Serrano are two of the three topmost leaders of TdA. Jose Romero is allegedly one of the organization’s founders and exercises command and control over all of TdA’s criminal operations, including the illegal importation and smuggling of gold and narcotics as well as extortion and murder. Mosquera Serrano is an alleged senior leader who oversees TdA criminal operations across Colombia, Central America and the United States. The indictment alleges Rivas Nunez and Martinez Flores are also high-ranking TdA leaders who operate out of multiple South American countries and direct operations to include gold smuggling, narcotics export and violent crime.

For years and up to the present, Jose Romero has allegedly exercised leadership over TdA, as one with authority over TdA’s expansion across the Western Hemisphere. The charges allege that under his authority, TdA members and associates engaged in a wide range of crimes, including extortions, kidnappings, murders, drug and gun trafficking, prostitution and sex trafficking, robberies, bank burglaries and money laundering. 

He and other leaders have charged and collected a “causa” or fee from lower-level TdA members and others to work in their area of control, according to the allegations. These payments allegedly enrich TdA leadership and provide financial support to TdA, and members would threaten, beat or murder those who did not pay it.

As a TdA leader operating and managing from Venezuela, Jose Romero has allegedly ordered, directed, facilitated and supported such acts of violence and terrorism, including murders, kidnappings, extortions, and maiming against victims located inside and outside the United States.

The charges also allege Mosquera Serrano and Martinez Flores caused the delivery of more than five kilograms of cocaine for international distribution, proceeds of which were used to further TdA’s criminal goals.

“Federal charges keep coming for alleged TdA leaders, regardless of where they are,” said Special Agent in Charge Douglas Williams of the FBI Houston Field Office. “Just as the Venezuelan foreign terrorist organization is relentless in sowing violence and terrorizing communities throughout America, so are the efforts of the FBI and our law enforcement and prosecutorial partners in our commitment to make our neighborhoods peaceful and safer.”

“The Drug Enforcement Administration 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.”

On Feb. 20, the Department of State designated TdA as a foreign terrorist organization and Specially Designated Global Terrorist.

Colombian authorities arrested Martinez Flores March 31 in Colombia pursuant to a provisional arrest warrant the United States had requested. He remains in custody there pending further proceedings.

Mosquera Serrano is on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted Fugitives List. Jose Romero and Rivas Nunez are also fugitives. If you have any information concerning either individual, please contact the FBI via WhatsApp or Telegram at 281-787-9939. Those with information may also contact their local FBI office, nearest American Embassy or Consulate or can submit a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.

The Department of State’s Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program is also offering a reward of up to $4 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Jose Romero and up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Mosquera Serrano.

All four are charged with one count of conspiring to provide material support to TdA in the form of personnel (including themselves) and services and one count of providing material support to TdA. The indictment also charges Martinez Flores and Mosquera Serrano with one count of international drug distribution conspiracy based on their involvement in the distribution of five kilograms of cocaine or more and two substantive counts of international drug distribution.

If convicted, all face up to life in prison and a possible $10 million fine.

The FBI and DEA conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Houston Police Department, Harris County Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Marshals Service, Colombian National Police and the Colombian Attorney General’s Office (Fiscalía General de la Nación). The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and the Criminal Division’s Office of Judicial Attaché in Bogotá, Colombia, provided significant assistance.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Casey N. MacDonald and Anibal J. Alaniz are prosecuting the case along with Deputy Director David C. Smith and Trial Attorneys James Keller and Kelly McGann from JTFV.

JTFV was created in 2019 to eradicate MS-13 and now expanded to target TdA. It is comprised of U.S. Attorney’s Offices across the country to include the Southern District of Texas; 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 Department of Justice’s National Security Division and the Criminal Division. Additionally, the FBI, DEA, Immigration and Customs Enforcement – Homeland Security Investigations; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; USMS, and Federal Bureau of Prisons are essential law enforcement partners with JTFV.

This case is also a part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice 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.

An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.