the to divide US Treasury Sanctions were imposed on Wednesday against people and companies allegedly linked to Aragua trainIt is an organization classified by the US government as terrorist.
Among the names are artists and people associated with Venezuela’s entertainment industry, including Venezuelan DJ and actress and model Ximena Romina Araya Navarro, known by her stage name “Rosita.” The government claims it helped Tren de Aragua leader Hector Rostenford Guerrero Flores (“Niño Guerrero”) escape from a prison in Tocorón, Venezuela, in 2012.
Rosita, according to the US government, is a shareholder and president of Global Import Solutions SA and works as a DJ at several nightclubs in Colombia. A portion of the revenue generated from its shows and events will be transferred to the leadership of Tren de Aragua.
The artist lives in Mexico, although her Instagram posts — where she has 3.5 million followers — often show her traveling around Venezuela, Europe and the Caribbean.
Another name that appears on the list is Eric Manuel Landeta Hernandez (“Eric”), Rosita’s former bodyguard and manager.
The Treasury Department alleges that until his arrest by Colombian authorities in October 2024, Eric was responsible for the finances and logistics of Tren de Aragua in Colombia and sold drugs to the organization across parties.
US authorities also described him as the owner of the creative, artistic and entertainment services company Eryk Producciones SAS, as well as the Maiquetia VIP Bar Restaurant nightclub in Bogotá, a venue he used to sell drugs for Tren de Aragua.
The statement also lists the name of Kinverso Josue Sevilla Arteaga (“El Flibre”), who will be Nino Guerrero’s right-hand man. According to the US government, he is one of the financial leaders of the Tren de Aragua and is involved in extortion, kidnapping and murder, in addition to the presence of front companies and organizing illegal rentals in Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Mexico, the United States and Colombia.
El Flipper will use the alias “José Daniel Martínez López” to maintain a company based in Colombia, called Yakera y Lane SAS, which operates in wholesale and retail trade.
The United States has also implemented sanctions on individuals it refers to as cell leaders or associates in Tren de Aragua: Richard José Espinal Quintero, Noe Manases Aponte Córdova, Asdrubal Rafael Escobar Cabrera, and Chison Royer Guerrero Palma, Nino Guerrero’s half-brother.
With sanctions, all potential goods located in the United States that are controlled by persons from the country are blocked. Entities owned 50% or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked.
Founded in a Venezuelan prison where it ran a zoo, a swimming pool, a nightclub, a restaurant and a bar, Tren de Aragua evolved into a terrifying transnational criminal force in less than a decade — “MS on steroids,” as one federal official put it, referring to the Central American Mara Salvatrucha (MS) gang entrenched in many American communities.
The organization expanded rapidly, trafficking drugs, hiring assassins and extorting businesses outside the prison walls, activities that Venezuelan prison authorities covered up, according to law enforcement officials.
The group branched out into neighboring Colombia around 2018, establishing itself in crowded working-class neighborhoods in the southern region of Bogotá, where gangs fight over drug sales, run brothels and demand monthly “vaccination,” or protection payments, from dealers, according to investigators. It wasn’t long before Trinh de Aragua was dismembering her rivals, leaving the remains in trash bags on the streets.
In November, the United States government officially listed Tren de Aragua as a terrorist group.
The US government has increased the reward to US$5 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Mosquera Serrano, the first member of the Tren de Aragua to appear on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list.