Trump administration indicts 27 alleged Venezuelan gang members on racketeering charges
President Donald Trump has vowed to wage a furious campaign against the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and designated it as a foreign terrorist organization earlier this year.
An example of that effort came this week when a slew of charges against alleged Tren de Aragua members were announced.
Twenty-seven individuals have been indicted
According to Fox News, that information was made public in a statement put out on Monday by the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.
The statement included remarks from Acting United States Attorney Matthew Podolsky, who explained that 27 "members, former members, and associates of Tren de Aragua" have been indicted on racketeering charges.
They are accused of "committing murders and shootings, forcing young women trafficked from Venezuela into commercial sex work, robbing and extorting small businesses, and selling ‘tusi,’ a pink powdery drug that has become their calling card."
Podolsky said the charges "make clear that this Office will work tirelessly to keep the law-abiding residents of New York City safe, and hold accountable those who bring violence to our streets."
Attorney general calls Tren de Aragua "a highly structured terrorist organization"
The statement also included comments from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, who declared that "Tren de Aragua is not just a street gang."
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"It is a highly structured terrorist organization that has destroyed American families with brutal violence, engaged in human trafficking, and spread deadly drugs through our communities," she asserted
This week's charges are part of "Operation Take Back America," an undertaking which seeks to "achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations."
Proclamation accuses gang of "conducting irregular warfare"
A proclamation signed by President Trump last month accused Tren de Aragua of "conducting irregular warfare and undertaking hostile actions against the United States."
This includes operating "in conjunction with Cártel de los Soles, the Nicolas Maduro regime-sponsored, narco-terrorism enterprise based in Venezuela, and commits brutal crimes, including murders, kidnappings, extortions, and human, drug, and weapons trafficking."
Such actions were said to be consistent with "the Maduro regime’s goal of destabilizing democratic nations in the Americas, including the United States."