Feds throw book at NYC Tren de Aragua — and ‘Anti-Tren’ splinter faction — by using mobster-fighting racketeering law for first time
The feds threw the book at 27 suspected members of Tren de Aragua — and its “Anti-Tren” splinter faction — who allegedly plotted murders, extortion and sex-trafficked young women across New York City.
A twin set of fresh indictments unveiled Monday in Manhattan federal court mark the first time that the alleged migrant gang members are being hit with racketeering charges, which the government used to take down the Mafia.
“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 Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch in a statement.
“For the first time ever, TdA is being named and charged as the criminal enterprise that it is. This isn’t just street crime — it’s organized racketeering, and this gang has shown zero regard for the safety of New Yorkers.”
The alleged gang members include Jarwin Valero-Calderon, 29, who was swept up during a December raid on an apartment in the Bronx.
Gang members threatened the area near the Prospect Avenue apartment for months, court papers allege.
During one September incident, a man and one of his woman companions went to a party near the apartment and were confronted by gun-toting Samuel Gonzalez Castro and Eferson Morillo-Gomez, according to the court papers.
Castro told the man that they would “blow his f—ing head off” if he tried to run, the papers allege.
“As this was occurring, the Companion was screaming,” the papers state. “Castro and Morillo-Gomez told the Companion, in substance, that she needed to stop screaming or they would kill her too.”
The rogue’s gallery of alleged Tren de Aragua members named in the indictment also includes Anderson Smith Zambrano-Pacheco, 26, who was allegedly involved in the gang’s shocking takeover of an Aurora, Colorado, apartment building.
He’s listed as part of “Anti-Tren,” an offshoot of Tren de Aragua almost exclusively comprised of former members of that gang, according to the indictment.
The feds leveled Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) charges against the suspected gangbangers, which carry up to life in prison.
The racketeering law has famously been used by federal prosecutors — including former Mayor Rudy Giuliani — to bust up Mafia families, as well as target hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Both alleged Tren and Anti-Tren members also face accusations they sex-trafficked young women — whom they called “multadas” — into the US, the feds said.
The gangs have killed or threatened to kill those women, in addition to assaulting and kidnapping ones who tried to escape their clutches, officials said.
Sources said the cases started in October and arrests unfolded as recently as Monday morning.
Additional reporting by Jennie Taer
