DOJ: Over 25 Tren de Aragua gang members charged, 80 firearms seized in nationwide crackdown
TECOLUCA, EL SALVADOR - DECEMBER 15: Inmates look from their cell at CECOT (Counter Terrorism Confinement Center) on December 15, 2025 in Tecoluca, El Salvador. Officials had instructed them to remove their shirts to display gang-affiliated tattoos. CECOT gained notoriety in 2025 when the Trump administration began its controversial policy of deporting people to El Salvador who they claimed were members of the Venezuelan criminal organization Tren De Aragua, and Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), a gang whose members are historically Salvadoran. In 2023 El Salvador opened Latin America's largest prison as part of President Nayib Bukele's plan to fight gangs. The government says some 20,000 gang members are being held at the mega-prison, which has a capacity of 40,000. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
OAN Staff Lillian Mann
6:24 PM – Monday, May 11, 2026
Federal authorities have recently charged more than 25 members and associates of the Tren de Aragua (TdA) criminal organization following the group’s formal designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) by the Trump administration.
By elevating TdA to terrorist status, the government has prioritized the systematic dismantling of their illicit operations, utilizing the full weight of federal resources to target both the group’s leadership and its domestic network.
In a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday, a multi-agency operation targeting the TdA criminal network resulted in the seizure of over 80 firearms and 18 kilograms (approximately 39 pounds) of narcotics, alongside the detention of 25 individuals linked to the transnational gang.
In the press release, investigators reportedly recovered fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine, ecstasy, ketamine, MDMA and “tusi,” a pink powder often containing ketamine and/or MDMA.
https://www.oann.com/newsroom/doj-over-25-tren-de-aragua-gang-members-charged-80-firearms-seized-in-nationwide-crackdown/
