Federal authorities have charged 30 individuals, including alleged leaders and members of the Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang, with a range of offenses including drug trafficking, murder-for-hire, and firearms crimes. The indictments were announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado following investigations that linked TdA to violent activities such as murder, kidnapping, extortion, and both human and drug trafficking. The group has been active in several American communities after many of its members entered the United States unlawfully.
The first indictment resulted from a nine-month investigation focused on an apartment complex in the Denver metro area where there had been an increase in violent crime and drug activity. Twenty-eight individuals face charges related to firearms trafficking; using firearms during drug crimes; illegal possession of firearms and ammunition; and distribution of controlled substances such as methamphetamine, cocaine, and “Tusi”—a pink narcotic mixture originating in Venezuela containing ketamine, methamphetamine, and MDMA (Ecstasy). Five defendants are also charged with conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire. Law enforcement recovered 69 firearms during this operation—some linked to shootings, carjackings, robberies, and drive-by incidents in Denver and Aurora.
A separate indictment names Luis Fernando Uribe-Torrealba and Luis Henriquez-Charaima on six counts including conspiracy to traffic firearms and drugs, carjacking, and conspiracy to commit murder for hire. Colombian authorities arrested both men on July 30, 2025 at the request of U.S. officials. They remain detained in Colombia pending extradition proceedings.
Of those indicted within the United States, 24 are currently held in federal custody.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) led the investigation with support from agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, local law enforcement agencies—including Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office—and international partners like the Colombian National Police’s Anti-Extortion Division GAULA Elite. Additional assistance came from the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs and its Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section’s Judicial Attaché office in Bogotá.
Prosecution is being handled by the Violent Crime and Immigration Enforcement Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Colorado along with Joint Task Force Vulcan (JTFV). JTFV was established in 2019 initially to combat MS-13 but now targets groups like Tren de Aragua across multiple districts nationwide through cooperation among various U.S. Attorney’s Offices as well as federal law enforcement partners including FBI, DEA, HSI, ATF, USMS (U.S. Marshals Service), Federal Bureau of Prisons https://www.justice.gov/usao-co/pr/thirty-charged-sweeping-federal-case-targeting-tren-de-aragua-members-and-associates-drug.
This prosecution is part of Operation Take Back America—a Justice Department initiative aimed at combating illegal immigration and eliminating transnational criminal organizations https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/operation-take-back-america-announced-marshaling-full-resources-justice-department-repel-invasion.
In February 2025 https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2167 Tren de Aragua was officially designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization by U.S. authorities.
According to prosecutors: “The charges contained in the indictments are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.”
Case Numbers: 25-cr-0063-SKC; 25-cr-233-RMR; 25-mj-114-KAS.
