The Venezuelan terrorist organization Tren de Aragua (TdA) is expanding dramatically in Mexico City and has become one of the leading criminal organizations in the Mexican capital city. TDA is one of several criminal organizations designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations by the U.S. government. The expansion in Mexico appears to be closely tied to the push by the U.S. government to track down its members and remove them from U.S. soil.
A special report by Mexico’s Proceso Magazine shows that in a span of two years, TdA has gone from having a minimal presence in police intelligence reports to becoming one of the most violent and profitable organized crime groups controlling criminal enterprises in Mexico City.
As Breitbart Texas reported, the TdA is a criminal organization from Venezuela that grew exponentially in recent years as a large number of its members migrated from there to the United States and set up operations in various metropolitan cities. The criminal organization focused on the drug trade, sex trafficking, and extorting the vulnerable migrant communities. They rapidly drew attention for their hyperviolent tactics and the impunity with which they operated in some U.S. cities.
The TdA became one of the priority targets of the Trump administration, which began targeting its members and removing them from the U.S. This rapid action appears to have triggered the crime syndicate’s move to Mexico City.
The TdA’s operation in Mexico focuses on sex trafficking and the use of Chinese precursors to manufacture pink cocaine and other designer drugs, Proceso reported. Basing their operations out of Mexico City, TDA has been able to establish a large-scale sex trafficking operation that feeds popular tourist destinations like Cancun and has also gone international by trafficking South American women into Europe.
In recent months, Mexican authorities have begun to crack down on TdA operations. The impact has been minuscule compared with the influence the organization has had in a short time. The rapid growth has already led to violent attacks in Mexico City, where the TdA has faced off against other local criminal organizations and established alliances of convenience with other crime groups and cartels.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.