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DOJ Charges Eight Alleged Tren de Aragua Members in Two U.S. Kidnapping-Murder Cases

Officials said the indictments are part of a broader crackdown that uses the group's foreign terrorist organization designation to widen prosecutions.

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 01: Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche speaks alongside Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel during a news conference at the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice building on July 01, 2026 in Washington, DC. The DOJ held the news conference to discuss recent developments in the department's investigation of the Tren De Aragua gang. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 01: Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche speaks during a news conference at the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice building on July 01, 2026 in Washington, DC. The DOJ held the news conference to discuss recent developments in the department's investigation of the Tren De Aragua gang. Blanche was joined by U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Andrew Boutros (L) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel (R). (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
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The Department of Justice (DOJ) seal on the J. Edgar Hoover Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) building in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, April 7, 2026. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, newly minted as the nation’s top law enforcement officer, said he doesn’t feel pressure to carry out retribution against Donald Trump’s political enemies even as he pledged fidelity to the president’s agenda.

Overview

  • The Department of Justice announced Wednesday that it filed federal charges against eight alleged members of Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua in two separate cases in Texas and Illinois.
  • In the Dallas-area case prosecutors say five suspects kidnapped a man and two children on August 24, 2024, and that the man was later shot execution-style in front of the children.
  • In the Chicago case authorities say three suspects abducted a man in May 2026, held him for hours, then transported him to an abandoned building where he was shot multiple times and left in a bathtub.
  • Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said all eight defendants entered the United States between December 2021 and April 2024, that several are already in U.S. custody and one is being held in Colombia.
  • The prosecutions build on the Trump administration's January 2025 designation of TdA as a foreign terrorist organization and officials signaled terrorism-related counts, extraditions and further arrests could follow, a development that could expand tools for investigators and affect immigration and cross-border enforcement.