Spanish police have successfully dismantled the first suspected cell of Tren de Aragua, one of Latin America’s most notorious criminal organizations. In this operation, law enforcement arrested 13 individuals. It is indeed a historic achievement in the worldwide battle against mafia-like gang activities on the old continent. Tren de Aragua has recently become widely known for committing some of the worst crimes, such as drug trafficking and murder. This has led U.S. authorities — including former President Donald Trump — to respond with enforcement actions.
Originally from Venezuela, Tren de Aragua has been operating in Spain since early 2023. They mostly run in the neighbourhoods of El Raval and around the Arc de Triomf in Barcelona, and El Cañaveral in Madrid. In March 2024, a special police unit in Spain arrested the brother of “Niño Guerrero,” the gang’s highest-ranking international leader. This resulted in a large show of force from the police. Law enforcement officials have announced the arrest of a suspect for their role in an alleged series of violent offenses. These crimes are terrorism, human trafficking, arms trafficking, extortion and money laundering.
Police action this recent is indeed a major development, it’s all the more remarkable when you consider the timing of it. The operation unfolded while Tren de Aragua’s cell was still in its “embryonic” phase. It implies that the gang’s operations in Spain had not yet crystallized. Almost all the arrests were made in Barcelona, with the suspects’ nationalities varied by country of origin. One of the chief inspectors of the National Police’s General Office of Information, José Ricardo, remarked that most were of Venezuelan origin.
As such, Tren de Aragua has come under international scrutiny for their brutal campaigns across the region, often targeting innocent civilians. As a result, in January, Trump signed an executive order highlighting that the gang is a foreign terrorist organization. He called Tren de Aragua’s expansion into drug trafficking, murder, and other violent crime the “first transcontinental criminal enterprise in the Western Hemisphere.” Since September 2022, U.S. authorities have led multiple operations against drug boats associated with Tren de Aragua in the Caribbean.
