U.S. increases reward to $5 million for tips leading to arrest of Tren de Aragua gang leader
The United States government on Wednesday increased its reward for information leading to the arrest of Giovanni Vicente Mosquera Serrano, an alleged leader of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. Through an organized crime rewards program operated by the Department of State, officials are now offering up to $5 million for tips that could bring Serrano into custody and potentially convict him on myriad drug charges.
Mosquera Serrano was the first alleged member of Tren de Aragua to be added to the FBI's "most wanted" list, according to the State Department. He was initially indicted in Texas district court in January and charged with international cocaine trafficking conspiracy, then recharged in a second indictment in April that additionally accused him of supporting a foreign terrorist organization.
President Trump labeled Tren de Aragua a foreign terrorist organization, alongside other gangs and cartels, when he retook office in January. His administration has since ratcheted up pressure on Venezuela and its president, Nicolás Maduro. In recent months, the U.S. has amassed a large military presence in the Caribbean and carried out multiple strikes on boats it claims are carrying drugs from Venezuela.
Some lawmakers have questioned whether the strikes are legal, and the first in that string of attacks, a deadly strike in early September, has prompted new concerns from Congress that a follow-on strike despite there apparently being survivors in the water may constitute a war crime.
Tren de Aragua's members are accused of a lengthy record of violent crimes, including murder, human trafficking, rape, kidnapping, bribery and racketeering. Originally formed inside Venezuela's Tocorón prison, Tren de Aragua expanded during the incarceration of Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, the alleged head of the gang known as Niño Guerrero. U.S. authorities have said Guerrero came to control the prison in addition to a series of gold mines and border crossings between Venezuela and Colombia, before eventually escaping custody.
Mosquera Serrano is among the alleged members of Tren de Aragua who have been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, which sanctioned 11 more alleged affiliates of the gang on Wednesday, according to the State Department.
One of the latest rounds of sanctions also targeted Jimena Romina Araya Navarro, a Venezuelan entertainer known as "Rosita," the U.S. Treasury announced, claiming she is a Tren de Aragua affiliate. Rosita is allegedly part of a group of five people in the entertainment industry who are accused of providing "material support" to the gang, according to the Treasury. She has also been accused of helping Guerrero escape from prison in 2012, while the group of five allegedly helped launder money for some of the gang's leaders, the department said.
"Under President Trump, barbaric terrorist cartels can no longer operate with impunity across our borders," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a news release. "At the direction of President Trump, we will continue to use every tool to cut off these terrorists from the U.S. and global financial system and keep American citizens safe."