A high-ranking Tren de Aragua member and Venezuelan national has been arrested and indicted on terrorism and international drug distribution charges, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The five-count superseding indictment was unsealed Wednesday, charging Jose Enrique Martinez Flores, also known as “Chuqui,” 24, in the Southern District of Texas (SDTX).
ACTUALIZACIÓN | José Enrique Martínez Flores alias “Chuqui”de ser declarado culpable en Houston podría enfrentar una larga pena de prisión aquí en los Estados Unidos, debido a la gravedad del delito que se le imputa; Terrorismo y Tráfico de drogas. pic.twitter.com/7EzBPRMxgb
— Carlos Salazar (@calestophoto) April 24, 2025
Colombian authorities arrested Flores in Colombia March 31 pursuant to a provisional arrest warrant the United States had requested. He remains in custody in Colombia pending further proceedings, according to a DOJ news release.
A federal grand jury in Houston returned the superseding indictment April 8. Flores faces charges for conspiring to provide and providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization as well as conspiracy and distribution of cocaine in Colombia intended for distribution in the United States.
This case marks the first instance of a TdA member being charged with terrorism related crimes. Tren de Aragua, or TdA, is an organized terrorist group that the Trump administration has targeted in an effort to deport criminal illegal aliens from the country and stop the flow of drugs into the country. The MS-13 gang, which, along with Tren de Aragua, was designated as a terrorist organization on Feb. 20 by the State Department.
Federal officials maintain TdA is more than a street gang, evidenced by the group’s ability to take over and terrorize an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado last summer. The Edge at Lowry Apartments was ordered to close earlier this year, USA Today reported.
“TdA is not a street gang – it is a highly structured terrorist organization that put down roots in our country during the prior administration,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi in the DOJ release. “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.”
Under the Biden administration, foreign gangs like TdA had free rein to enter the U.S. without consequences, ultimately distributing deadly drugs and terrorizing American citizens.
“That ends now,” said U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei for the SDTX. “This Department of Justice is committed to uprooting this terrorist gang, dismantling its criminal operations, and either imprisoning its members or removing them from the country. SDTX is proud to lead this fight.”
TdA is a direct threat to national security and law-abiding Americans, and federal, state and local law enforcement agencies are working together to stop their proliferation in local communities across the U.S., said FBI Director Kash Patel.
“Together with our law enforcement partners, the FBI continues in our pursuit to eliminate this violent terrorist organization from our streets, and today’s announcement makes it clear that these criminals, especially the leaders of these cartels, have no place in our country,” Patel said in the news release.
Patel also posted the announcement of the unsealed indictment on the social media platform X earlier this week:
“@TheJusticeDept is officially charging him with support of a terrorist organization, as well as drug trafficking. With Attorney General Bondi leadership, these charges are a major step in breaking the operations of violent terrorist gangs and rooting them out of American communities. This FBI is letting good cops be cops. This is the result.”
According to the allegations, Flores is charged with one count of conspiring to provide material support to TdA in the form of personnel (including himself) and services and one count of providing material support to TdA. The indictment also alleges one count of international drug distribution conspiracy based on his involvement in the distribution of five kilograms of cocaine or more, and two substantive counts of international drug distribution, the DOJ release states.
Flores is a high-ranking TdA leader in Bogota, Colombia, and is part of the inner circle of senior TdA leadership, according to information presented to the court. Flores also allegedly facilitated the delivery of approximately five kilograms or more of cocaine for international distribution, proceeds that were used to further TdA’s criminal goals.
If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of life in prison and a $10 million fine.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a DOJ initiative focused on clamping down on illegal criminal aliens, drug trafficking and violent crime associated with cartels and transnational criminal organizations in the U.S.
