The Department of Justice added terrorism-related charges to the criminal case against an alleged high-ranking member of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang on April 23.
In a newly unsealed indictment against Jose Enrique Martinez Flores, the Justice Department is pursuing terrorism charges against an alleged member of the notorious Tren de Aragua gang for the first time.
The State Department designated the Venezuelan gang as a foreign terrorist organization in February, and President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act in March, proclaiming members of the gang as “liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured, and removed as Alien Enemies” and “chargeable with actual hostility against the United States.”
Martinez Flores, 24, also known as “Chuqui,” was charged with conspiring to provide and providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, according to his indictment, filed in federal court in the Southern District of Texas. He was also charged with conspiracy and distribution of cocaine in Colombia, intended for distribution in the United States.
Colombian authorities arrested Martinez Flores in Colombia on March 31 after the United States requested a provisional warrant for his arrest. He is still in Colombian custody “pending further proceedings.”
A federal grand jury in Houston returned Martinez Flores’s superseding indictment on April 8. Federal authorities accuse him of being a “high-ranking” leader of Tren de Aragua in Bogota, Colombia, and also “part of the inner circle of senior [gang] leadership.”
Martinez Flores allegedly instigated the delivery of roughly five kilograms or more of cocaine for international distribution to fund Tren de Aragua’s “criminal goals,” according to the indictment.
He faces a maximum penalty of life in prison and a $10 million fine if convicted.
Attorney information for Martinez Flores was not immediately available.
“[Tren de Aragaua] is not a street gang—it is a highly structured terrorist organization that put down roots in our country during the prior administration,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement.
“Today’s charges represent an inflection point in how this Department of Justice will prosecute and ultimately dismantle this evil organization, which has destroyed American families and poisoned our communities.”
On Monday, the Justice Department charged 27 alleged members and associates of Tren de Aragua with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking conspiracy, drug trafficking conspiracy, robbery, and firearms offenses.
Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky for the Southern District of New York described the group’s criminal allegations.
“Today, we have filed charges against 27 alleged members, former members, and associates of Tren de Aragua, for committing murders and shootings, forcing young women trafficked from Venezuela into commercial sex work, robbing and extorting small businesses, and selling ‘tusi,’ a pink powdery drug that has become their calling card,” Podolsky said in a statement.
Trump’s efforts to use the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged gang members have spurred multiple court battles. Last week, the Supreme Court temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deporting an unspecified number of Venezuelan men currently in immigration custody who are alleged to be members of Tren de Aragua.
Matthew Vadum contributed to this report.
Tren de Aragaua] is not a street gang—it is a highly structured terrorist organization that put down roots in our country during the prior administration,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement.
And for that Brandon should be arrested and imprisoned for crimes against America
One down, MANY THOUSANDS MORE to go.
I’m sick and tired of the Leftist declaring these illegal invading human vermin have Constitutional rights, which they actually lose the minute the illegally enter the USA. Foreigners who enter LEGALLY do get those rights. To declare Constitutional protection for people who enter illegally is like declaring that thieves who break into your home have right to your silverware, Jewelry safe contents and even your guns?????? The only 10 second question to be asked is “Are you in this country legally”,,,If the answer is no, they get kicked right out the door as fast and cost free as possible. We are wasting trillions in court costs and legal expenses that are totally unnecessary. And they should understand that if they break into your home ILLEGALLY, they can be legally shot to death. Being a gang member has nothing to do with it, nor does one’s ability to pick fruit or baby sit Swartzeneggars kids. just adds to the urgency to stop the lawlessness.
What gets me is we KEEP SEEING LIBTARDS whine about ‘due process’ for these illegals (MANY WHO HAVE HAD Their due process, since TWO Separate courts ruled many should be deported)..
YET THEN TURN AROUND, and pull crud like using a kid throwing a temper tantrum and “kicking” the shin of a cop, to RED FLAG law him, THEN GO to his parents home and SEIZE ALL THEIR GUNS (even though they were locked up in a safe) all because “he may be a threat to himself and others”, YET HAVE NO DUE PROCESS WHAT SO EVER< for those parents to get their guns BACK!