Members of a gang with ties to Venezuela were arrested and indicted on weapons charges after an investigation uncovered a gun-trafficking ring that sold firearms, as well as drugs, throughout New York City, officials said.
Dozens of deadly weapons were seized Tuesday in what authorities dubbed “Operation Train Derail,” an ambitious takedown of ruthless criminals who were part of one of the most dangerous gangs in the country.
Arrested were 10 members of Tren de Aragua, a gang that originated in Venezuela, with branches now in New York City, Texas and Colorado, as well as in some Latin American countries neighboring Venezuela.
Most of the gang members were busted in the Bronx, along with one in Brooklyn, one in Monroe, in the Hudson Valley, plus two out of state, in Houston and Miami.
The gun-trafficking operation occurred in Queens, Manhattan and the Bronx.
“According to this indictment, they bought guns from gun-friendly states and brought them here to sell,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. “They stole firearms that are proceeds of burglaries and car break-ins from other states. They relied on the use of rental vehicles to come up the iron pipeline and sell them to people in the City of New York.
“They were aware they could make money in the City of New York, and they even discussed smuggling them into Colombia. Due to the success of this investigation, those plans never came to fruition.”
Officials said the eight-month investigation resulted in the seizure of 34 guns, including two assault rifles, plus 48 grams of a drug cocktail known as tusi or “pink cocaine.”
Many of the weapons were sold in broad daylight, including several transactions that took place in a shopping center parking lot in College Point. According to an official, “the conspiracy was centered in Queens.”
During another sale, an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle was placed in a garbage bag and sold in the middle of the afternoon in the Bronx.
The guns’ sale prices ranged from $1,200 to $2,800, officials said.
“Tren de Aragua is one of the most dangerous gangs in the country, and the NYPD has taken significant action to shut down their operations in New York City,” said NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
“Today’s indictment makes clear that we will not let them terrorize our streets with illegal guns, assault weapons and dangerous narcotics that threaten all our communities.”
To coordinate the transactions, gang members communicated on WhatsApp, officials said.
The Tren de Aragua gang has been linked to a series of kidnappings, extortion and other crimes throughout the Western Hemisphere. Its spread to the U.S. and other countries is tied to a mass exodus of migrants from Venezuela, where the gang originated more than a decade ago.
Tren De Aragua members have been among targets of Trump administration immigration raids.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said Wednesday that all of the indicted Tren de Aragua members had entered the country illegally around 2023.
Two of the defendants have yet to be apprehended, officials said.