Congresspeople urge Biden to declare Tren de Aragua a transnational criminal organization

A group of Republican congresspeople have asked US President Joe Biden, a Democrat, to formally declare the Venezuelan criminal gang Tren de Aragua a Transnational Criminal Organisation (TCO).

“Tren de Aragua” is a criminal organization, which started as prison gang in Venezuela, but then expanded its operations to Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Colombia. In a letter signed by more than 20 senators and congressmen, to which EFE had access on Friday, US legislators point out that the “Tren de Aragua” is “an invading criminal army from a prison in Venezuela that has spread their brutality and chaos to US cities and small towns.”

Led by Senator Marco Rubio and Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar, the parliamentarians told Biden that if left unchecked they could unleash “an unprecedented reign of terror” already seen in Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru. “The breadth of Tren de Aragua’s operations encompasses murder, drug, and human trafficking, sex crimes, extortion, and kidnapping, among other brutalities,” added the signatories, including Florida Senator Rick Scott as well as his South Carolina colleague and former presidential candidate Tim Scott.

In the letter, dated Thursday, they said that designating the Aragua Train as a TCO would allow the necessary resources and sanctions that will help stem the escalating crime and violence that threatens communities across the United States. They stressed that the heinous crimes committed by members of the Tren de Aragua, including the murder of nursing student Laken Riley in Georgia, must stop immediately. Riley was allegedly murdered by the brother of an undocumented Venezuelan linked to the organisation, who is currently imprisoned. EFE Ice/dgp/mcd