“COUNTLESS” VIOLENT ACTS
Federal prosecutors in New York filed racketeering, drug and firearms expenses in December in opposition to the gang chief.
“Guerrero Flores has been the mastermind of Tren de Aragua’s evolution from a Venezuelan jail gang right into a transnational terrorist group,” US Legal professional Jay Clayton mentioned in an announcement when the indictment was introduced.
Tren de Aragua, underneath Guerrero Flores’s management, has “dedicated numerous acts of violence, extortion, and drug trafficking throughout North America, South America, and Europe,” he mentioned.
The US State Division had provided a US$5 million reward for data resulting in his arrest or conviction.
In accordance with a report by the InSight Crime assume tank, Guerrero made Tren de Aragua “what it’s at present throughout his incarceration at Tocoron”.
Underneath his management, Tocoron “grew to become one of many nation’s most infamous prisons, largely due to the unofficial coverage of the Venezuelan authorities of handing management of sure prisons … over to prison leaders often known as pranes.”
“This freedom and the gang’s prison revenues allowed for the development of a zoo, a swimming pool, a playground, a restaurant, and a nightclub contained in the jail,” the report added.
The joint operation is the most recent instance of enhancing ties between Caracas and Washington because the seize of Nicolas Maduro.
The 2 international locations restored diplomatic relations in March, which had been severed in 2019.
The US is within the means of reactivating its embassy in Caracas.
