Tren de Aragua Members Charged With Selling Illegal Weapons As Trump Seeks To Crack Down On Gang

Queens prosecutors have charged 10 suspected members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, alleging they trafficked 34 illegal firearms into New York from other states. One of the sales involved an AR-15 wrapped in a garbage bag and sold in broad daylight outside a residential building in the Bronx.

A special grand jury charged two alleged leaders, 25-year-old Enyerbert Blanco and 27-year-old Wrallan Meza, with selling and possessing illegal firearms. Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said they could face up to 25 years in prison if convicted. Eight others were charged with helping them buy, traffic, and sell weapons, which ranged from $1,200 handguns to $2,800 assault rifles.

"These weapons were sold in the open street in daylight," Katz said at a news conference, describing the group's operations as highly organized. "They bought from friendly states, brought them here to sell. This group was very entrepreneurial. They really made sure that this business was run like a clock."

The case marks one of the first major law enforcement crackdowns on Tren de Aragua in New York. Police say the gang, which first appeared in the city in 2023, has been linked to organized retail theft, robberies, and phone snatchings using scooters.

According to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny, 67 suspected members of the gang are in a police database. He said all 10 people indicted Wednesday were Venezuelan nationals who illegally entered the U.S. through the southern border.

Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said three of the suspects were arrested in New York, five were taken into custody in other states, and two remain at large. Katz confirmed that all 10 defendants would be tried in Queens.

New York has long struggled with illegal gun trafficking from states with looser firearm regulations. While the city's overall number of shootings has declined, officials continue to target groups involved in bringing weapons into the city.

Recently, a police raid involved members of the gang. The alleged ringleader of a Tren de Aragua cell was arrested in the city months after going viral for a video that showed three heavily armed men breaking into an apartment in the city of Aurora, Colorado.

The arrest of Anderson Zambrano-Pacheco took place in the early hours of Tuesday. According to the New York Post, he was living in an apartment building in The Bronx just across from an elementary school. Sources also told the outlet that he had an arrest warrant from Colorado for several charges including kidnapping, burglary and menacing.

Elsewhere, in Colorado, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) arrested dozens of undocumented migrants tied to Venezuelan-born gang following the raid of what authorities described as a "makeshift nightclub" in Adams County. Several of them were taken into custody.

The DEA said said it seized drugs, weapons and cash in the raid in what was a development in an investigation that began during the Biden administration. Drugs included cocaine, crack cocaine and pink cocaine.