The U.S. Department of Justice announced the unsealing of a superseding indictment charging 10 members of Tren de Aragua, a designated foreign terrorist organization, with racketeering and a series of violent crimes in New York City.
Federal prosecutors said the charges stem from murders, shootings, sex trafficking, drug trafficking, robberies, and other offenses committed by the Venezuelan-based gang. The indictment alleges the defendants carried out the May 24, 2024, murders of Claretha LaQuesha Daniels, 44, and Justin Lawless, 36, outside of an apartment building in the Bronx. A third victim was also shot and wounded during the attack.
Six members—Keiber Jaen Martinez, Samuel Gonzalez Castro, Eferson Morillo-Gomez (“Jefferson”), Keiver Silva-Jimenez, Keineyer Ibarra-Mujica, and Marlon Farias—are charged with participating in the murders. Gonzalez Castro was also accused of shooting a rival gang member in Queens on Aug. 3, 2024, in an incident that left a bystander injured.
Authorities said Gonzalez Castro, Morillo-Gomez, and another defendant also carried out a gunpoint carjacking in the Bronx in September 2024. Prosecutors detailed how the group enforced its control through intimidation, kidnappings, assaults, and killings to preserve its power and profits.
Eight of the 10 defendants are currently in federal or state custody. Silva-Jimenez remains at large, and Farias was previously removed from the United States by immigration authorities. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Denise L. Cote in the Southern District of New York.
Attorney General Pamela Bondi said the charges reflect the government’s resolve to “destroy Tren de Aragua and bring its members to justice for their horrific crimes against the American people.” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called the group “one of the most violent and ruthless terrorist gangs on planet earth” and pledged to pursue any illegal alien who engages in criminal activity.
U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton for the Southern District of New York said Tren de Aragua members smuggled women from Venezuela for sex trafficking, trafficked a drug mixture known as “tusi,” and committed robberies and murders. “We are committed to putting cartels, gangs, and others who poison our children and pursue violence as a way of life out of business,” Clayton said.
The case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the New York Police Department, and multiple federal and local partners as part of Joint Task Force Vulcan, which was expanded to target Tren de Aragua. It also falls under Operation Take Back America, a Justice Department initiative to dismantle cartels and transnational criminal organizations tied to illegal immigration and violent crime.
