U.S. sanctions bosses of Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang, citing threat to region

Antonio Maria Delgado, Miami Herald on Jul 17, 2025

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In a new blow to one of Latin America’s most feared criminal syndicates, the U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday announced sanctions against Héctor “Niño” Guerrero and five other top figures in Tren de Aragua, a Venezuela-based gang now designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

The gang, which originated inside a Venezuelan prison, has rapidly grown into a powerful transnational criminal network involved in drug trafficking, extortion, migrant smuggling and sexual exploitation, with operations reaching key areas of the United States, including South Florida.

The group has been linked to human trafficking networks that move migrants north through Central America and Mexico, with stops in border cities like Tapachula and Tijuana — and eventual arrivals in U.S. cities.

The sanctions freeze any assets the individuals have under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibit any U.S. citizen or business from engaging in transactions with them. Officials also warned that foreign banks doing business with the gang could face secondary sanctions and risk losing access to the U.S. financial system.

Guerrero, a former inmate at Venezuela’s notorious Tocorón prison, is credited with building Tren de Aragua — often referred to as TdA — into a global force, using brutal tactics and prison contacts to extend the gang’s reach throughout Latin America.

“Guerrero expanded TdA from a prison gang involved in extortion and bribery to an organization engaged in terrorism with growing influence throughout the Western Hemisphere,” the Treasury said in a press release. “The Department of State is offering a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Guerrero.”

In addition to Niño Guerrero, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned:

•Yohan Jose Romero (“Johan Petrica”) – A co-founder of the gang and Guerrero’s close lieutenant. He oversees the group’s illegal mining operations and weapons trafficking, including military-grade arms. A $4 million reward is being offered for his arrest.

•Josue Angel Santana Pena (“Santanita”) – An original member of the gang, accused of coordinating bombings, homicides, and terrorist activity from behind bars.

•Wilmer Jose Perez Castillo (“Wilmer Guayabal”) – A cell leader involved in drug trafficking, assassinations of law enforcement and military personnel and bribery schemes.

•Wendy Marbelys Rios Gomez – Guerrero’s wife, who is believed to manage the group’s money laundering operations and is tied to terrorist financing.

•Felix Anner Castillo Rondon (“Pure Arnel”) – The leader of Los Gallegos, a Tren de Aragua affiliate in Chile, implicated in human trafficking, sexual exploitation and narcotics activity.

All individuals were sanctioned under executive orders targeting both transnational criminal organizations and global terrorist actors.

Tren de Aragua has become South America’s most feared gang, surpassing even MS-13 and Brazil’s PCC in brutality and expansion. Chilean and Colombian authorities have blamed the group for surges in homicides and disappearances in recent years.

Earlier this year, the U.S. State Department designated Tren de Aragua as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, citing its use of violence, corruption and terror to control communities, extort local businesses and infiltrate government institutions.

The presence of TdA members in the United States led President Donald Trump to invoke the Alien Enemies Act to quickly deport Venezuelans suspected of being part of the violent gang to a megaprison in El Salvador, without giving them the opportunity to defend themselves in court.

The practice was immediately halted by a federal court, but a recent Supreme Court decision has opened the door for the administration to deport undocumented migrants to third countries. ICE plans show that the administration is preparing to send migrants to distant countries while giving them as little as 24 hours to respond — and, in some cases, as little as six hours.

According to the proclamation issued by Trump in March, the Nicolás Maduro regime had launched “an invasion of the United States” by sending TdA members to infiltrate the U.S. with the ultimate goal of causing havoc.

While most experts agree that the presence of TdA members is not as widespread as the administration has suggested, a recently revealed FBI report concluded that the Caracas regime did promote and finance gang members to travel into the United States.