Three Spanish words have recently crept into the American lexicon: Tren de Aragua. While reports of a Venezuelan criminal gang’s presence in the United States have been emerging for some time, over the past few months, mentions of the organization by Republicans blaming President Joe Biden’s administration’s immigration policies for the gang’s activities have put it at the forefront of political discussion in the context of the upcoming elections presidential elections, in which immigration is one of the key issues. With reports of incidents from Texas to New York and Florida to Colorado, and Republican Party-allied media giving them intense coverage – often exaggerated and lacking real evidence – Tren de Aragua, also known as TDA or simply “the Venezuelan gang ”, has become the favorite villain of conservative voices in the country in the abstract. However, according to available information, the security forces still know very little about their activities and level of organization.

The news and social media frenzy surrounding Tren de Aragua began less than a month ago when images began circulating allegedly showing gang members armed with assault rifles forcing their way into homes in an apartment building in Aurora, Colorado. Headlines from more conservative publications and channels claimed that the gang had “taken over” the city, which is part of the Denver metropolitan area. Former president and Republican candidate Donald Trump also repeated this story during the presidential debate in which he faced Kamala Harris, using the exact same phrase.

In response, local police denied that a Venezuelan gang had taken over the city or even some of its buildings, although they admitted that suspected Tren de Aragua members were present. In Denver, authorities held the gang responsible for several robberies and robberies of luxury stores that caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages, as well as one murder.

The narrative that Trumpism pushes fits perfectly into the broader immigration and crime story that the Republican candidate is selling. The former president has repeatedly claimed that Venezuela – and other countries that are changing by the day – are “emptying their prisons and asylums” and sending criminals and the mentally ill to the United States. Trump has never provided any evidence for this other than to say that crime in Venezuela is down, a claim that is based on unverified data from the Maduro regime. There is also no external evidence to support his claims. But Tren de Aragua’s growing presence, even if it represents a drop in the ocean of recent immigration from Venezuela, provides some support, albeit circumstantial, for his xenophobic alarmism about the alleged link between new immigrants and crime.

In July, the Biden administration imposed sanctions on the gang, placing it on a list of transnational criminal organizations that includes El Salvador’s MS-13 and Italy’s Camorra and offering a $12 million reward for the arrest of three known leaders. In September, Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott designated Tren de Aragua a foreign terrorist organization and ordered the state Department of Public Safety to create a task force to pursue the gang wherever it had a presence. A hotel in the border city of El Paso has been closed due to continued criminal activity. Police say the situation was escalated by the presence of Tren de Aragua, although they were not the only ones named. Last week, Abbott announced a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of gang members.

The Capitol also mentioned the name of the gang that was founded in the Tocorón prison in the state of Aragua in Venezuela. Eleven Republicans, led by Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, wrote a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland on September 20 urging the Biden administration to adopt a coordinated strategy to confront the gang. “The administration’s weak enforcement of immigration laws allows gangs like Tren de Aragua to control routes and exploit migrants on their way to the border,” the letter says.

In cities such as Chicago and New York, the gang has been accused of crimes ranging from sex trafficking – which it operates across almost the entire continent – drug dealing, assaults on police, robberies, extortion and, Republican senators say, exploitation of migrants. A recent article in New York TimesCiting confidential sources from the New York Police, he describes what is known about the presence of Tren de Aragua in the metropolis that has received the largest number of migrants in recent years. According to the police, the gang was involved in stealing mobile phones, robbing luxury goods and dealing in tusi, a pink synthetic drug.

Interviews conducted by security forces with detainees suspected of belonging to Tren de Aragua outlined the gang’s strategy. What is known for now is that they usually come into contact with other members of migrant shelters – although people currently in reception centers say they have not noticed the gang’s presence – and communicate via private WhatsApp groups. They also report that there are several identifying marks: tattoos depicting watches, anchors, crowns, or verses with the word “warrior”; Jordan brand sportswear; and, for reasons that are unclear, the Albanian flag on social media.

While these are all the intelligence developments needed to take down a criminal organization, at this stage basic information such as its size or level of coordination, both within the United States and internationally, remains a mystery. On the surface, the crimes attributed to Tren de Aragua in the US do not appear to be linked to his leadership in Venezuela. There is no indication that they are related, but there is concern that sooner or later they may begin to organize in different states.

In May, a federal investigation uncovered a sex trafficking operation in Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Florida and New Jersey. This was in line with Tren de Aragua’s modus operandi from Chile to Mexico: Venezuelan women forced into prostitution to pay off debts to human traffickers. The gang’s involvement in a wide range of criminal activities also increased the risk of confrontation with rival groups. There have already been reports of clashes with former members who call themselves Anti-Tren, as well as other established gangs such as MS-13, as well as occasional alliances.

However, Tren de Aragua appears to be more feared than other criminal groups due to – in addition to emerging in a context where its name is used for electoral purposes – its level of violence and unscrupulousness. For Tren de Aragua, everyone is a victim and no criminal activity is prohibited.

A look at Venezuela also leaves one unsure about the Tren de Aragua. A year ago, authorities in Caracas claimed to have disbanded the gang after regaining control of the Tocorón prison; but since then, there have been constant reports of her activities in various Latin American countries. In April, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil declared that Tren de Aragua was an “international media fiction.” More recently, Diosdado Cabello, considered Chavismo’s second-in-command, accused the TDA of complicity in an alleged attack, supported by the opposition and the United States, aimed at killing Nicolás Maduro after the July elections.

In the context of non-existent cooperation with Venezuela, US police have tightened their inspection protocol to detect potential Tren de Aragua members at the border, through thorough inspections of cell phones and tattoos and more detailed interrogations. Meanwhile, ever since the gang’s name appeared on headlines and in conversations in the U.S., Americans have been walking around with fear and suspicion about every Venezuelan migrant.

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