This is the first time the Justice Department has indicted a suspect in the Tren de Aragua Gang on terrorism charges.
The Justice Department added terrorist accusations to the criminal case on April 23 against the alleged high-ranking members of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang.
In a newly sealed indictment against Jose Enrique Martinez Flores, the Justice Department is pursuing the first time terrorist accusations against the infamous suspects of the Tren de Aragua gang.
Colombian authorities arrested Martinez Flores in Colombia on March 31 after the US requested a provisional warrant for his arrest. He is still under Colombia’s custody, “more lawsuits are pending.”
The Federal Jury in Houston returned the modest indictment of Martinez Flores on April 8th. Federal authorities have accused Tren de Aragaa of being the “high rank” leader in Bogota, Colombia, and also “part of the inner circle of senior (gang) leadership.”
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Martinez Flores is said to have incited the delivery of more than five kilograms of cocaine for international delivery to fund the “criminal target” in Tren de Aragua, according to the indictment.
He faces the biggest prison penalty, a $10 million fine if convicted.
Martinez Flores’ attorney information was not immediately available.
“(Tren de Aragaua) is not a street gang. It is a highly structured terrorist organization that has roots in our country during the previous administration,” Attorney General Pamela Bondy said in a statement.
“Today’s charges represent an inflection point in the way this Department of Justice prosecutes and ultimately dismantles this evil organisation.
Mathew Podolski, a US lawyer for the Southern District of New York, explained the group’s criminal complaint.
Matthew Vadam contributed to this report.
