Alleged Tren de Aragua leader charged in New York while at large

NEW YORK — An alleged leader of the Tren de Aragua gang, labeled by the United States as a terrorist organization, has been charged in a New York federal court with racketeering conspiracy and terrorism-related offenses, authorities said Thursday.

Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, a 42-year-old Venezuelan man, was described as the mastermind of the group's evolution from a Venezuelan prison gang into a transnational terrorist organization, U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in a release accompanying the unsealing of the indictment. Guerrero Flores remains at large, and the State Department is offering rewards of up to $5 million for his arrest, the release said.

Clayton said the gang is responsible for countless acts of violence, extortion and drug trafficking in North America, South America and Europe. He said the charges against Guerrero Flores are in addition to charges already brought in New York against more than 30 members or associates of Tren de Aragua.

Louis D’Ambrosio, head of the Drug Enforcement Administration's Special Operations Division, said Guerrero Flores laundered money through cryptocurrency, trafficked drugs by the ton and sold weapons of war while operating Tren de Aragua like a multinational crime syndicate from prison. "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,” he said.

Douglas Williams, head of the FBI's Houston office, said Guerrero Flores brought “violence, murder and misery into communities and nations throughout the Western Hemisphere,” including murders, violent robberies, sex trafficking and weapons and narcotics trafficking in the United States.

The designation of Tren de Aragua as a terrorist organization underscores the government's view that the network operates as a hybrid criminal-terrorist enterprise with international reach. Authorities say the indictment and related prosecutions cover more than a decade of activity, including alleged extortion, drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and other crimes spanning North America, South America and Europe.

Originating in Venezuelan prisons, Tren de Aragua evolved into a transnational organization that used prison facilities as a hub for coordinating operations and funding across continents. Officials say Guerrero Flores directed the group's leadership from confinement, overseeing a structure that allowed the gang to move money, drugs and arms across borders and to launder proceeds through digital currencies.

The case aligns with a broader push by U.S. law enforcement to dismantle violent criminal networks that mimic terrorist organizations in their violence and reach, authorities said. The United States has previously charged dozens of Tren de Aragua members and associates in multiple jurisdictions, reflecting a multiyear crackdown against the gang.