Trump-era task force arrests over a thousand Tren de Aragua members
The Homeland Security Task Force, created under President Trump, has arrested 1,296 members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and charged about 350 individuals with federal offenses.
The Trump administration established a Homeland Security Task Force in 2025 to dismantle transnational criminal groups, focusing on the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. Between Jan. 20, 2025 and Oct. 8, 2026 the task force arrested 1,296 gang members and brought federal charges against nearly 350 affiliates. Authorities attribute the gang's U.S. presence to lax border policies under the Biden administration, noting that many members blended into the migrant flow from Venezuela.
The group has been implicated in a range of violent offenses, including the 2021 shooting of two New York police officers and the 2024 murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley. In February 2025 Secretary of State Marco Rubio labeled the gang a foreign terrorist organization, and in June a joint U.S.-Venezuelan strike eliminated its leader, Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores. Recent DOJ actions also captured top fugitive Anibal Alexander Canelon Aguirre, accused of orchestrating a $40 million ATM fraud scheme.
Why it matters
The crackdown shows a major federal effort to curb transnational gang activity that has infiltrated U.S. communities.
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