US charges eight migrants with Tren de Aragua gang ties, violent crimes

The U.S. Department of Justice has accused eight migrants of being part of the transnational criminal organization Tren de Aragua, linking them to murders, kidnappings, and other violent offenses in Texas and Illinois. Five of the defendants in the Northern District of Texas face charges including racketeering conspiracy, kidnapping, and murder. Meanwhile, three others in Chicago are accused of kidnapping and fatally shooting a man in May.

All eight individuals are Venezuelan citizens who, according to the U.S. government, entered the country illegally between December 2021 and April 2024. If convicted, they could face life imprisonment, with five of them potentially facing the death penalty. The indictment in Texas provides limited details on the specific acts and the evidence supporting the charges. It alleges that the defendants kidnapped three people on August 24, 2024, and that three of them were involved in the murder of one victim, though the victims are not identified, nor are the specific actions of each defendant detailed.

One of the accused, Carlos Zambrano Bolívar, had previously faced a state trial for capital murder related to these events in February. However, the judge declared a mistrial after the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict. His lawyer argued that Zambrano Bolívar was a victim of sex trafficking by Tren de Aragua and acted under duress due to fear of reprisal against him and his family.

Human rights organizations like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have criticized the U.S. government's use of the Tren de Aragua case to justify its immigration policies. They allege that authorities have detained Venezuelan migrants as suspected gang members without sufficient evidence or proof of criminal records, labeling these as arbitrary detentions. The U.S. administration has also framed Tren de Aragua as part of a "migratory invasion" allegedly encouraged by the Venezuelan government, a claim contested by U.S. intelligence assessments.

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the Venezuelan had been a victim of trafficking for sexual exploitation by Tren de Aragua, a criminal gang that was born in Venezuelan prisons, and that he would have acted under coercion, for fear of reprisals against him and his family.