Task Forces Have Arrested 1,296 Tren de Aragua Members Since January 2025, New Federal Data Shows
Figures given first to the Washington Examiner show nearly 350 members and associates have also been charged federally. The White House calls it the largest campaign against transnational crime in history.
Federal Homeland Security Task Forces have arrested 1,296 members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, according to numbers released for the first time to the Washington Examiner.
The data covers Jan. 20, 2025 through Oct. 8, 2026. It also shows that law enforcement charged nearly 350 members and associates with federal crimes. The White House, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice created the task forces in 2025 to find and remove criminal rings and terrorist organizations embedded in American communities, with Tren de Aragua a particular target.
The Examiner labels the report an exclusive. White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis called the effort "the largest campaign against transnational crime that the government has undertaken in history." She credited it as one of the reasons overall violent crime has dropped since 2025. That is the White House's claim, and the report does not give figures to back it up. In a statement, Bis said the administration will "dismantle your networks, seize your profits."
An ICE spokesperson said task force agents have found gang members in almost every state and called the group "one of the most vicious gangs on planet earth."
Background from the Examiner. The gang began roughly a decade ago in a Venezuelan prison and spread across South America. The paper says about 700,000 Venezuelans were encountered at the southern border from the start of Joe Biden's term in January 2021 through September 2024, which made it easier for members to blend in. Border Patrol could only check people against records the U.S. had, since Venezuela does not share in-country crime data, and with limited detention space and Venezuela refusing to take back its citizens, most were released. The Biden administration designated the group a transnational criminal organization in 2024. In February 2025, at Trump's direction, Secretary of State Marco Rubio designated Tren de Aragua and several Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
A caution on the sourcing. The arrest and charging numbers come from the government. We could not check them against another source. The Examiner's page is behind a subscription wall, and we read the portion that was open to us, so details further down the article are not reflected here.