All Eight Defendants Illegally Entered the United States During the Prior Administration
The Department of Justice announced charges filed in the Northern Districts of Illinois and Texas against eight alleged members of designated foreign terrorist organization Tren de Aragua (TdA) for murders, kidnappings, and firearms offenses. All eight defendants charged in these Homeland Security Task Force operations are illegal aliens believed to be from Venezuela who illegally enter the United States between December 2021 and April 2024. One defendant charged in Northern Texas is now in custody in Colombia for unrelated charges.
“Eight TdA members illegally entered the United States between 2021 and 2024 and are alleged to have committed horrific crimes, including murdering a father in front of his teenage daughter,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “This should never have happened in the first place, but under the Biden administration, open-border policies left the doors wide open, and hundreds of suspected and convicted Tren de Aragua terrorists poured into this country. In the 18 months since President Trump stopped this madness, designating Tren de Aragua a foreign terrorist organization, we have charged nearly 350 of its members and associates with egregious violent crimes – murders, sex trafficking, kidnapping – along with weapons and drug trafficking, robbery, and widespread financial crimes. This work requires an all government, all law enforcement approach, which is precisely what has happened under the leadership of President Trump.”
TdA is a violent transnational criminal organization that originated as a prison gang in Venezuela in the mid-2000s. TdA has expanded its criminal network throughout the Western Hemisphere and established a presence in the United States. TdA’s criminal activities include a variety of violent and criminal offenses, including drug trafficking, firearms trafficking, commercial sex trafficking, kidnapping, robbery, theft, fraud, and extortion. TdA members also commit murder, assault, and other acts of violence to enforce and further the organization’s criminal activities.
As alleged in court documents, in the United States, TdA is organized into subsets or cells based on geographic area of operation. Each regional cell typically has one or more leaders who are responsible for, among other things, managing the criminal enterprise’s activities in the territory, collecting money from other members and associates to finance gang activities and crimes, directing day-to-day management of the region, and planning and ordering acts of violence against rival gang members, associates, and other victims. The leaders of these subsets or cells report to, receive directives from, and distribute criminally-derived assets and proceeds to TdA leaders throughout the United States, Mexico, Central America, and South America.
Since Jan. 20, 2025, the Department has federally charged over 300 members and associates of TdA across 28 districts.
“President Trump‘s historic leadership designating Tren de Aragua as a Foreign Terrorist Organization has given this FBI and our law-enforcement partners the tools we need to wipe out their operations,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “Now, every single day across this country, we are decimating their presence in America - dismantling and disrupting over 2,700 violent gangs, a 365% increase, with a 500% increase in Tren de Aragua arrests since 2024. Today, thanks to tremendous work from FBI Chicago, FBI Dallas, and our partners as part of the FBI’s nationwide violent crime initiative Summer Heat 2.0, eight more alleged TdA members who entered the United States under the previous administration have been indicted or arrested and will face justice for their crimes.”
“The complaint against these three TdA members should leave no doubt that the Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office is going to aggressively pursue transnational criminal organizations and hold their members and associates accountable for their violent criminal acts,” said U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros for the Northern District of Illinois. “We will continue to prioritize the investigation and prosecution of TdA, which very deservedly has been designated by President Trump and his Administration as a terrorist organization. Our shared goal is crystal clear: to disrupt and dismantle TdA and not allow it to gain a foothold in the United States or Chicagoland. This Fourth of July weekend, as we celebrate the 250th birthday of the greatest nation on earth, many families in the Chicago area will celebrate with loved ones because the whole of federal government in Chicago is taking violent crime seriously and in a way that hasn’t been seen in years. The result is that the scourge of violence that has gripped Chicago for too long is beginning to see relief.”
“On this 250th anniversary of the birth of our great nation, I am reminded of how lucky we are to enjoy the many freedoms that our country provides. Which is why, as U.S. Attorney, I am laser focused on ensuring that North Texans can enjoy freedom and safety in all our communities,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould for the Northern District of Texas. “This indictment of TdA gang members is a significant step to ensure that this dangerous transnational gang does not oppress, intimidate or harm our fellow North Texans. Let this serve as a warning to all TdA members: you will not gain a stronghold in the Northern District of Texas.”
“Violent transnational gangs like Tren de Aragua pose a significant and ongoing threat to the safety of our communities,” said Acting Executive Associate Director John A. Condon of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). “This indictment is a testament to the dedication of our agents and the strength of our partnership through the Homeland Security Task Force. By working closely with federal, state, and local law enforcement, HSI continues to disrupt violent criminal organizations and protect communities across the United States.”
Case summaries are below:
Northern District of Illinois
On June 29, three alleged members of the transnational criminal organization, TdA, were charged in the Northern District of Illinois with participating in a conspiracy to kidnap and murder a man in Chicago.
The criminal complaint charges Josue Pacheco Torres, 26, Julian Pachano, 19, and Kleiver Monasterio Briceno, also known as “Goofy,” 20, with kidnapping conspiracy and committing a kidnapping that resulted in death. The three defendants are believed to be Venezuelan nationals. Pachano was arrested late last night, while Torres was arrested early yesterday morning. Monasterio Briceno was already in law enforcement custody.
According to the complaint, the defendants conspired to kidnap a man who was walking near Meyering Park on the South Side of Chicago on May 18. The victim was forced into a car and initially driven to a Chicago apartment. The defendants and other co-conspirators later transported the victim — while his wrists were bound together behind his back — to an abandoned building in Chicago, the complaint states.
The following night, the victim’s mother contacted Chicago Police to request a wellness check at the abandoned building. The mother told police that she had been directed to the building by an individual with whom the mother had been communicating on the online messaging application WhatsApp. According to the complaint, Chicago Police entered the building and found the victim deceased inside the bathroom of an abandoned unit. The victim, who was discovered facedown with his wrists bound behind his back, had been shot multiple times and had also suffered blunt force injuries to his head, arms, neck, hands, and torso, the complaint states.
According to the complaint, the conspiracy to kidnap and murder the victim was carried out in connection with the defendants’ involvement in TdA. Since 2024, law enforcement in Chicago has been investigating acts of violence, including murders and shootings, involving suspected members of TdA and its splinter faction, Anti-Tren.
Additionally, at the time of the murder, Pacheco Torres was wearing an ankle monitoring bracelet as a condition of his pretrial release in a criminal prosecution pending in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois.
The charges and arrests were announced by U.S. Attorney Andrew S. Boutros for the Northern District of Illinois, Special Agent in Charge Douglas S. DePodesta of the FBI Chicago Field Office, and Special Agent in Charge Matthew Scarpino of HSI Chicago Field Office. The Chicago Police Department and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Chicago Field Office provided valuable assistance in this investigation.
Photo of TdA defendants and a coconspirator kidnapping victim in Chicago, from the criminal complaint.
Northern District of Texas
On June 30, a grand jury in the Northern District of Texas returned charges against five alleged members of TdA. All five defendants are citizens and nationals of Venezuela.
The defendants Hector Asdrubal Garcia Zuniga, also known as “Murry” and “Munra,” 36; Carlos Luis Zambrano Bolivar, 27; Jhonny Jesus Martinez Serrano, 31; Jhonatan Nahin Toro Gonzalez, 23; and Ehiker Alexander Morales Mendoza, also known as “El Ingeniero” and “El Negro,” 39, were indicted on racketeering charges involving murder, kidnapping, and other violent offenses.
Each defendant is charged with racketeering conspiracy for allegedly conspiring and agreeing with one another, and with others, to conduct and participate directly and indirectly in the conduct of the affairs of the TdA enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity, which consisted of multiple acts involving murder, kidnapping, robbery, and bank fraud. Each defendant is charged with kidnapping in aid of racketeering for allegedly kidnapping three individuals on or about August 24, 2024, for the purpose of maintaining and increasing position in TdA. Garcia Zuniga, Zambrano Bolivar, and Martinez Serrano are also charged with murder in aid of racketeering for allegedly aiding and abetting each other in committing the murder of one of the individuals who was kidnapped on or about August 24, 2024. Additionally, Zambrano Bolivar is charged with using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence and causing death through the use of a firearm.
The charges were announced by U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould for the Northern District of Texas, Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock of the FBI Dallas Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Travis Pickard of HSI Dallas Field Office, and Chief of Police Kevin McCoy of the Farmers Branch, Texas Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeremy Fugate and Caroline Poore for the Northern District of Texas and Joint Task Force Vulcan Trial Attorneys Jacob Operskalski, Kelly McGann, Stefani Hepford, and Josie Thomas are prosecuting this case.
If convicted, the defendants in both the Northern District of Illinois and the Northern District of Texas face up to life in prison. Pacheco Torres, Monasteria Briceno, Garcia Zuniga, Zambrano Bolivar, and Martinez Serrano also face the possibility of the death penalty.
These cases are part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of U.S. law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTFs Chicago and Dallas comprise of agents and officers from the FBI, HSI, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives ATF, IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), U.S. Secret Service (USSS), U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Department of State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), HIDTA, and other federal, state, and local law enforcement, with the prosecution being led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern Districts of Illinois and Texas.
These cases are also part of Joint Task Force Vulcan (JTFV). JTFV was created in 2019 to eradicate MS-13 and now expanded at the direction of the Attorney General to target TdA. JTFV is comprised of U.S. Attorney’s Offices across the country, including the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York; Eastern and Western Districts of North Carolina; Western District of Virginia; Southern District of Florida; Eastern District of Texas; Western District of Oklahoma; Northern District of Indiana; District of Nevada; and District of Arizona; as well as the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, and the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, and the Office of Judicial Attaché and DEA partners in Bogotá, Colombia. Additionally, the FBI, HSI, ATF, U.S. Marshals Service, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons are essential law enforcement partners with JTFV.
A complaint and indictment are merely allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
