14 Tren de Aragua Gang Members Busted in DC Metro-Area Raids



by Randy Clark 21 Mar 2025

A Joint federal operation conducted in the Washington, D.C., Metro area led to the arrest of 14 members of the notorious Venezuelan Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang. According to Michael W. Banks, Chief of the United States Border Patrol, authorities also arrested one illegal alien suspected of being a member of the Salvadoran Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang.

On Friday, Banks announced the results of the operation that specifically targeted suspected gang members involved in ongoing criminal activity. In addition to the 15 illegal aliens suspected of being members of the TdA and MS-13 gangs, one firearm was recovered. The operation into gang activity in the nation’s capital involved agents from the United States Border Patrol Special Operations Group (BORTAC) and the Border Patrol’s National Gang Unit.



Chief Michael W. Banks
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The United States Border Patrol Special Operations Group-BORTAC and the USBP National Gang Unit, in coordination with the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations, conducted an operation in the DC Metro area targeting suspected gang members involved in ongoing criminal activity.

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12:11 PM · Mar 21, 2025

Banks said the operation was coordinated with the FBI and DHS’s Homeland Security Investigations special agents, who also participated. In late February, the U.S. Department of State announced the designation of both the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua and MS-13 gangs as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs).

In addition to TdA and MS-13, the Trump administration also designated several Mexican drug cartels as FTOs during the announcement. The Mexican drug cartels named in the announcement included the Cartel de Sinaloa, Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG), Cartel del Noreste (CDN), La Nueva Familia Michoacana (LNFM), Cartel del Golfo (CDG), and Carteles Unidos (CU).

Banks did not provide any information concerning whether the latest Tren de Aragua illegal aliens arrested would be expelled to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act or if they would face criminal charges in the United States. On Saturday, the Trump administration removed more than 200 suspected Tren de Aragua members to El Salvador’s famous maximum security CECOT prison.

Despite the efforts of a U.S. federal district judge to halt the removal of the suspected gang members by granting a temporary suspension of the expulsions order, the planes carrying the Venezuelan illegal aliens were already outside international airspace and landed safely in El Salvador.

Friday’s multi-federal agency deportation operation targeting illegal alien gang members was the latest in a series of operations to nab serious criminal offenders in multiple cities across the country.

As reported by Breitbart Texas, deportation operations earlier in March resulted in 81 illegal alien arrests in Kentucky. Twenty-five of those arrested in that operation now face federal criminal charges.

A series of similar federal immigration operations in New Mexico resulted in the arrest of multiple illegal aliens, including some for serious firearms possession offenses. In addition to four suspects being charged with weapons-related offenses, 48 other illegal aliens, including some previously convicted of serious criminal offenses, were arrested across the state.

https://www.breitbart.com/border/202...ro-area-raids/