One of the issues that most affected the election in Chile was public insecurity, which involves the expansion of the Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan criminal faction that has become one of the most active transnational organizations in the hemisphere. According to a report by the organization InSight Crime, published in 2023, the group went from being a gang restricted to the famous Tocorón prison, in Venezuela, to spreading across South America during the migration crisis caused by the regime of dictator Nicolás Maduro.
The United States government links the Tren de Aragua to the Cartel de los Soles, a criminal organization formed by Venezuelan military and authorities aligned with the Maduro regime. In 2023, the dictatorship claimed to have carried out an operation in the Tocorón prison to dismantle the faction, but, according to InSight Crime, the intervention ended up producing the opposite effect: it decentralized the group’s structure, expanded the autonomy of cells abroad and allowed them to start financing themselves locally and sending resources to leaders who fled Venezuela.
Currently, according to police investigations, court documents, international organizations and the InSight Crime report, Tren de Aragua currently maintains operations or cells in countries such as Chile, Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Panama, Mexico, as well as a presence in cities in the United States and Spain, where a criminal network belonging to the Venezuelan group was recently dismantled.
According to a report by InSight Crime, Chile is currently the country where Tren de Aragua has achieved the highest degree of consolidation outside of Venezuela. According to the document, the cells of the criminal faction entered the country through border cities such as Arica and Tarapacá and later advanced to the capital Santiago and the city of Concepción, combining kidnappings, extortion, sex trafficking, drug trafficking, homicides and money laundering. The faction also began to influence the Chilean prison system, repeating patterns observed in Tocorón.
The violence involving the Tren de Aragua reached the center of political debate after the murder of Venezuelan military refugee Ronald Ojeda Moreno, who was kidnapped and killed in Santiago last year. As revealed at the beginning of this year by the Chilean Attorney General, Ángel Valencia Vásquez, a witness named Diosdado Cabello, Chavismo’s number two, as the mastermind and financier of the execution. The investigation, based on witness reports, indicates that members of the Tren de Aragua participated directly in the operation at the behest of Maduro.
InSight Crime describes that the faction completed three stages of expansion in Chile: exploration of migratory routes and vulnerable areas; penetration, with the use of extreme violence; consolidation, with networks of laundering, corruption and co-option of local criminals.
Brazil: fragmented action, but with official alert and connection with the PCC
In Brazil, the actions of the Venezuelan faction follow a distinct but growing pattern. Reports from the federal police indicated that cells of the criminal group are already operating in states such as Roraima, Amazonas, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, mainly exploiting the Venezuelan community with extortion, toll collection, sexual exploitation, human and drug trafficking.
The faction’s presence in the Brazilian prison system has also been officially recognized. In an interview with CNN Brazilin April, the Minister of Justice, Ricardo Lewandowski, said that “currently, there are more than 80 criminal factions operating in prisons, including the foreign group El Tren de Aragua, which is leaving Venezuela and entering through Roraima, entering other state prisons. It is already in Chile, which causes great concern.”
Furthermore, according to reports from experts, there is currently cooperation between the Tren de Aragua and Brazilian factions, such as the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC). In an interview with the team at People’s GazetteRoberto Uchôa, member of the Board of Directors of the Brazilian Public Security Forum, revealed that “Tren de Aragua is working with the PCC, both for drugs and weapons, mainly in Roraima, where there are a large number of Venezuelan refugees. Tren de Aragua took advantage of this to expand throughout South America, with this Venezuelan diaspora.”
According to the InSight Crime report, Tren de Aragua operates in Brazil through small cells, formed mainly by members linked to the Venezuelan diaspora and established in urban areas with low State presence and little institutional protection.
Ecuador: expanding presence
In Ecuador, the Tren de Aragua is “in a growth phase” at the moment, especially in cities such as Huaquillas, Guayaquil and Quito, where it explores migratory routes and transit areas for Venezuelans. According to InSight Crime, Ecuadorian cells operate in the area of extortion, human trafficking and logistical support for transnational networks. There are still no signs of the consolidation seen in Chile or Peru, but authorities say the group is advancing as the migration crisis intensifies and puts pressure on border regions.
Peru and Colombia: traditional centers of the faction
Peru is another country in which Tren de Aragua has achieved a strong presence. According to investigations cited by InSight Crime, the group controls part of the sex trafficking in Lima, practices systematic extortion – the so-called vaccine – and is linked to targeted homicides. Since 2022, more than a thousand members and collaborators have been detained in operations carried out by the Peruvian government.
In Colombia, the faction is concentrated in cities such as Cúcuta, Bogotá and Arauca, where it explores migrant routes and charges illegal tolls at clandestine border crossings. Progress in Colombia is limited by clashes with local groups such as the ELN and other FARC dissidents, but Tren de Aragua still maintains a relevant role, especially in extortion, migrant trafficking and contract killings.
United States and Europe
In the United States, authorities identify scattered Tren de Aragua cells in states such as New York, Texas, Colorado, Florida and Illinois, focusing on extortion and sexual exploitation of Venezuelan migrants. Federal investigations indicate that the group operates in a more fragmented way, but is connected to networks that benefit from the diaspora and the vulnerability of newcomers.
The expansion also reached Europe. This year, Spanish police dismantled the first Tren de Aragua cell on the continent, with arrests in Barcelona, Madrid and Málaga, where the group was active in sex trafficking, extortion and cocaine distribution.
