SUMMARY
The Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan criminal organization, has expanded into northern Brazil through alliances with local factions. The faction is involved in drug trafficking, illegal mining, human trafficking, extortion, prostitution, and kidnappings. In Boa Vista, capital of the state of Roraima, which is located 230 km of the Venezuelan border, Tren de Aragua dominates several neighborhoods, including Tancredo Neves and Buritis, and operates in Venezuelan refugee shelters. The group exploits vulnerabilities among Venezuelan migrants, forcing them into labor. Tren de Aragua’s presence has escalated violence, severely impacting local public security.
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Tren de Aragua
Tren de Aragua is a transnational criminal organization designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the United States. Originating in Venezuela, Tren de Aragua emerged in the early 2000s from a group of railroad construction workers who initially demanded better work conditions. Over time, their activities escalated to highway robberies and increasingly violent crimes. The gang has over 5,000 members and is led by Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, known as “Niño Guerrero”, incarcerated in Tocorón prison [1] in February 2018. Tocorón prison served as its headquarters, however, in 2023, Venezuelan security forces raided the prison, forcing the group’s leadership to flee. For years, the Venezuelan government tolerated or failed to dismantle the gang’s control over Tocorón prison, which had a swimming pool, a discotheque, a baseball stadium and a zoo , as well as tunnels to enter and exit freely.
Tren de Aragua keeps expanding, exploiting Venezuela’s migration crisis since the end of 2010s. The gang now operates in Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Panama, Costa Rica, Chile, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States. Tren de Aragua is primarily involved in human trafficking and smuggling, controlling key migration routes across Latin America. It also engages in drug and arms trafficking, bribery, illegal mining, extortion, kidnappings for ransom, and money laundering. Unlike local street gangs, Tren de Aragua operates more like South American drug cartels such as the Medellín and Cali cartels, using a highly organized structure to expand its criminal enterprises. The gang has allied with powerful criminal groups, including Brazil’s First Capital Command (PCC).
Immigration and Expansion to Brazil
Venezuela’s crisis fueled migration and strengthened organized crime. Venezuela’s weak enforcement let the gang expand. Corrupt police and military officers reportedly allow Tren de Aragua to operate freely, and their inaction has forced civilians to flee while criminals take advantage of migration routes to expand their activities.
According to Roberto Briceño León, director of the Venezuelan Observatory of Violence (OVV), the loss of financial opportunities within the country forced members of the Tren de Aragua to follow migration flows, initially targeting border areas where they exploited Venezuelan migrants. Between 2016 and 2018, reports of the gang’s activities in other countries began to surface.
Initially operating in Roraima, Tren de Aragua expanded across Brazil with the support of powerful local factions, forming ties with PCC and, more recently, with the Red Command (CV) to consolidate control over drug routes and illegal gold mining in the Amazon. No longer restricted to border operations, the group has spread to at least four Brazilian states: Roraima, Amazonas, Paraná, and Santa Catarina. Investigations by Agência Pública and police reports confirm the gang’s involvement in criminal activities beyond Roraima.
In Boa Vista, the gang dominates drug trafficking in several neighborhoods, including Tancredo Neves, Buritis, Caimbé, Liberdade, and Asa Branca, as well as in shelters managed by Operação Acolhida, a federal initiative supporting Venezuelan refugees since 2018. Known for their extreme violence, Tren de Aragua members force out local drug traffickers, leading to clashes with Brazilian factions. However, their partnership with the PCC has allowed them to consolidate power and recruit Brazilian criminals.
Roraima’s Civil Police identified Venezuelan brothers Antonio and Daniel Cabrera as key leaders of the faction in Brazil. Both were arrested in 2024, but their imprisonment has not stopped the group’s expansion. Federal authorities, including the Ministry of Justice, are closely monitoring the gang’s spread in Brazilian cities.
Roraima’s prisons struggle with overcrowded foreign inmates. Currently, 418 Venezuelans are held in state prisons, some linked to the Tren de Aragua. Investigations since 2018 have found PCC initiation lists with Venezuelan names at the Monte Cristo Agricultural Penitentiary, located in the rural area of Boa Vista, highlighting the growing integration between the two criminal organizations.
Main Criminal Activities
Since 2017, Tren de Aragua has been engaged in violent conflicts with rival criminal groups. In eastern Venezuela, it clashes with El Tren del Llano to control drug trafficking routes to the Caribbean. In Colombia’s Norte de Santander region, it competes with the National Liberation Army (ELN) for control over human trafficking, according to Insight Crime.
Tren de Aragua has built a vast criminal network involved in extortion, drug and arms trafficking, human smuggling, and prostitution. Reports from Insight Crime suggest that the Maduro regime has failed to take significant action against the Tren de Aragua, allowing it to expand unchecked. Some experts argue that corruption within Venezuela’s security forces enables the gang to operate with relative impunity inside the country. In Mexico, it collaborates with local cartels in human trafficking and even competes with them for control of illicit activities along the U.S. border.
In Chile, the group is linked to murders and sexual exploitation; in Peru, to brutal executions; and in Colombia, it has diversified into prostitution, theft, and drug trafficking, making the country a key base for its operations. Tren de Aragua integrates into local criminal economies while also laundering money through cryptocurrencies.
In Brazil, the gang operates drug trafficking routes, prostitution rings, and illegal gold mining. These issues are part of the broader security crisis in the Amazon, where criminal factions drive extreme violence and lawlessness (Extreme Violence and Criminal Factions: The Amazon’s Biggest Problems). Additionally, the border between Brazil and Venezuela serves as a hub for smuggling migrants, drugs, and weapons, forcing vulnerable Venezuelans into debt bondage, prostitution, and forced labor in mining and trafficking.
Impact on Public and Social Security
The expansion of Tren de Aragua in northern Brazil has significantly impacted public security, particularly in Roraima and Amazonas. Similar situations are occurring in other parts of the country, such as Rondônia, where the rise of organized crime has challenged authorities (Security Crisis: The Rise of Organized Crime in Rondônia). In January, investigators discovered a clandestine cemetery in Boa Vista (RR) with ten bodies, most with stab wounds, suspected to be victims of the faction. The gang has taken control of drug dens in at least five neighborhoods in Boa Vista and operates in Manaus (AM) and border cities.
The faction’s growth coincided with mass Venezuelan migration. Between 2015 and 2024, more than 568,000 Venezuelans entered Brazil as refugees. This influx has been accompanied by a surge in violent crime, with murders in Roraima increasing from an annual average of 60 to over 200, according to the Civil Police.
The prison system in Roraima has also been affected, with the number of inmates rising sharply. Venezuelans now make up almost 10% of the state’s prison population (418 out of 4,460 inmates), putting pressure on an already fragile system. Authorities report that prisons are experiencing heightened tension due to the growing presence of foreign inmates.
Tren de Aragua has also intimidated Army soldiers working in Operation Acolhida, the federal program assisting Venezuelan migrants. Investigators have linked the gang to disappearances, with Roraima leading Brazil in this crime— 499 people went missing in 2022, and the number rose to 518 in 2023, according to the 2024 Brazilian Public Security Yearbook.
Known for brutal violence, the gang leaves dismembered bodies as a signature of its terror tactics. The combination of illegal mining, organized crime, and a humanitarian crisis has turned the region into a high-risk zone for both locals and migrants.
Government Responses, Challenges, and Future Perspectives
To counter the expansion of Tren de Aragua, Brazil has intensified law enforcement actions, particularly through the Forças Integradas de Combate ao Crime Organizado (FICCOs). These joint operations between federal, state, and municipal forces aim to combat organized crime. The FICCO-RO and the FICCO-PA acted in the triple border region between Brazil, Venezuela, and Guyana. However, weak borders, corruption, and limited resources let the gang recruit migrants.
Stopping Tren de Aragua requires urgent, strategic action. Law enforcement alone won’t contain a criminal empire thriving on corruption. Without intelligence and financial crackdowns, its expansion will continue unchecked. Venezuela’s inaction enables its rise, and without swift measures, it will become as entrenched as Mexico’s cartels. The presence of Tren de Aragua in the North of the country adds a high-risk element to an already volatile landscape marked by conflicts over drug, arms, and human trafficking, as well as smuggling, land grabbing, and illegal resource extraction. This increasing complexity in Brazil’s border regions with its neighbors heightens public security challenges, affecting both the public and private sectors. Companies must navigate this unstable environment to safeguard their assets, reputation, and the safety of their employees.
[1] Aragua Penitentiary Center, also known as the Tocorón prison , is a Venezuelan prison located in the town of Tocorón, in the south of the state of Aragua.
