Tren de Aragua (TdA)

FTOForeign Terrorist Organization // Designated Feb 20, 2025 // U.S. State Dept.

Profile Overview //

Threat Tier

Tier 2 - Transnational / Professionalized

Volatility Index

VI-3 - Moderate

Organization Type

Prison-Origin Gang

Operational Status

Active

Designation Status

US FTO and SDGT

FTO Designation

Yes Feb 20, 2025

Designation Detail

CONFIRMED: Designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization and Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the U.S. State Department on February 20, 2025. CONFIRMED: On July 17, 2025 OFAC designated six individuals under Executive Orders 13581 and 13224 for acting on behalf of TdA. The designation is a U.S. policy action and does not by itself establish a link to a terrorist group.

Area of Operation

South America, Central America, North America, Caribbean

Specific AOR

CONFIRMED (Treasury): Venezuela is its origin and main base. A cell called "Los Gallegos" operates in Chile. The Treasury says it is expanding across the Western Hemisphere and fights Colombian guerrillas.

Force Strength

DATA DEFICIT: No sourced figure.

Leadership

CONFIRMED (Treasury, July 17, 2025): Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores ("Niño Guerrero") is the head. Others sanctioned: Yohan José Romero ("Johan Petrica"), a co-founder who runs illegal mining in Venezuela; Josué Ángel Santana Peña ("Santanita"), who reportedly directed the group from prison; Wilmer José Pérez Castillo ("Wilmer Guayabal"); Wendy Marbelys Ríos Gómez, the leader's wife; and Félix Anner Castillo Rondón ("Pure Arnel"), who leads the Los Gallegos cell in Chile.

Headquarters

Aragua State, Venezuela (approximate map marker: Maracay)

Coordinates

10.2469, -67.5958

Operational Monikers

TdA, Tren de Aragua, Los Gallegos (Chile cell)

Last Verified

2026-11-12

Operational Brief //

CommandEleven Intelligence Desk // Transnational Organized Crime Desk, status as of November 12, 2026

Bottom Line Up Front. Tren de Aragua (TdA) is a criminal organization that began in Venezuelan prisons and has expanded across the Western Hemisphere. The U.S. State Department designated it a Foreign Terrorist Organization and Specially Designated Global Terrorist on February 20, 2025. On July 17, 2025 the U.S. Treasury sanctioned six of its leaders and affiliates, including its head, Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores ("Niño Guerrero"). We assess that TdA is a loose network of cells, not a single hierarchy, and that U.S. descriptions of its command-and-control should be treated with care.

What We Could Not Source. Membership, the current location and status of Niño Guerrero, and the degree of coordination among the foreign cells. We could not retrieve the Treasury's December 2025 action against a TdA-linked laundering network.

History, Goals and Doctrine //

Operational History

CONFIRMED (Treasury): Began as a Venezuelan prison gang involved in extortion and bribery and grew into a regional organization. CONFIRMED: Designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization on February 20, 2025.

Operational Goals

ASSESSED: Expand criminal revenue across the region through trafficking, extortion and smuggling.

Ideology

None. Profit-driven criminal enterprise.

Org Doctrine

Network of semi-autonomous cells linked by a prison-born core.

Regional Command

REPORTED (Treasury): Cells led by named lieutenants, including in Venezuela's mining and drug trade and in Chile.

Operational Signature

Drug trafficking, human smuggling and trafficking, extortion, sexual exploitation of women and children, money laundering, and illegal mining (Treasury).

Flashpoint

CONFIRMED: Treasury sanctions of July 17, 2025 on six leaders and affiliates.

Primary Adversaries

Colombian guerrillas (Treasury); regional security forces; U.S. authorities.

Terror Group Links //

Link Nature

Logistical / Smuggling

Evidence Tier

DATA DEFICIT

Link Evidence

DATA DEFICIT: We found no sourced operational link between TdA and a terrorist group. The FTO designation is a legal tool, not evidence of a terror partnership.

Capabilities and Finance //

Weaponry Focus

Small Arms (Pistols/Rifles)

Technology Profile

DATA DEFICIT: No sourced assessment. We do not publish technical specifics.

Financial Vectors

Narcotics TraffickingHuman TraffickingProtection Money / ExtortionMineral / Gold / Resource Extraction

Spatial Profile

Venezuelan prisons and mining areas, and urban cells in Chile and across the hemisphere.

Cyber Assessment

DATA DEFICIT: No sourced information.

Governance and Control //

Territorial Controllers

DATA DEFICIT: Plaza-level controllers are not publicly mapped.

Administrative Responsibility

ASSESSED: Cell coordination, extortion and mining revenue.

Administrative HQ

DATA DEFICIT: Not publicly confirmed.

Command Table

DATA DEFICIT: No sourced information.

Court Registry

CONFIRMED: OFAC designations of July 17, 2025.

Disruption Vector Matrix //

Logistical Vulnerability

Dependence on migrant routes and illegal mining.

Logistic Strategy

Regional police cooperation and mining-sector enforcement.

Financial Vulnerability

Money-laundering links through wives, relatives and front businesses (REPORTED).

Financial Strategy

Treasury designations of laundering networks.

Leadership Vulnerability

The head and several lieutenants are sanctioned and wanted.

Leadership Strategy

Pursue the named leaders and cell heads.

Disruption Strategy

Treasury targeting of leaders and laundering networks, regional police cooperation, and trafficking-victim protection.

Threat Matrix //

Operational Threat

4 - High (National/Cross-Border Infiltration)

ASSESSED: Moderate to high. A regional criminal network with extortion and trafficking reach.

Kinetic Capability

3 - Medium (IED/Targeted Assassinations)

ASSESSED: Moderate.

Logistical Resilience

3 - Medium (Localized Taxation/Smuggling Links)

ASSESSED: Moderate. Cells operate semi-independently.

Information Influence

2 - Low (Localized Printed/Audio Leaflets)

ASSESSED: Low.

Analytical Note //

Analytical Note

ASSESSED: TdA is a loose cell network. Treat claims of centralized command with caution and watch for new Treasury actions and cell arrests.