Justice Department Charges Eight Alleged Tren de Aragua Members in Texas and Illinois Killings

The Department of Justice charged eight Tren de Aragua members with kidnapping and murdering American citizens, including children, in Texas and Illinois. Washington Examiner reported that Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, FBI Director Kash Patel, and two U.S. attorneys from Texas and Illinois announced the indictments at a press conference on Wednesday.

Five of the eight members were charged in Dallas and three face charges in Chicago. Every one of the eight entered the United States between December 2021 and April 2024 under the prior administration, Blanche stated. In one Dallas-area case from 2024, four men murdered a father and kidnapped his 13-year-old daughter and 12-year-old nephew.

Three of those suspects are in U.S. custody for other crimes and one is held in Colombia. The fifth Dallas defendant was a high-ranking official in the gang, according to the Department of Justice. In Chicago, three men kidnapped a male victim in broad daylight at a park less than two months ago.

The victim was taken to an apartment, then to an abandoned building where he was shot multiple times in the head and body. His body was left face down in a bathtub. Blanche said nearly 350 Tren de Aragua members have been charged with or convicted of crimes since President Donald Trump took office last year.

Patel reported a 519 percent increase in arrests of the gang during Trump’s second term, along with 29,000 violent gang members arrested nationwide and 2,700 gangs thwarted. Blanche added that additional terrorism charges could be added later through superseding indictments, following instructions from President Trump.