The Trump administration raised the rewards for the three main leaders of the Tren de Aragua to 50 million dollars

The administration of Donald Trump intensified the offensive against the Venezuelan criminal organization by multiplying the rewards for information that would lead to the capture of its top leaders, accused of drug trafficking, murders, kidnappings, and terrorist operations in several countries.

The U.S. government announced a significant increase in monetary rewards to capture the three main leaders of the Tren de Aragua, one of the most violent criminal organizations in Latin America, designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the Trump administration in 2025. The new offers, coordinated among the State Department, the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Department of Justice, amount to a total of up to 50 million dollars.

The measure represents an intensification of the U.S. strategy to dismantle the command structures and international networks of an organization that has extended its activities far beyond Venezuela. Washington seeks to use economic incentives to obtain information that would locate, arrest, and bring to justice its main leaders, whose backgrounds include drug trafficking, illegal gold mining, murders, extortion, and kidnappings.

The announcement was made on Thursday by the Office of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs of the State Department, within the Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program.

The largest increase corresponds to Yohan José Romero, also known as ''Yohan Petrica'', identified in court documents as the current top leader of the Tren de Aragua. The reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction increased from 4 million to a maximum of 20 million dollars.

Romero is identified as the person in charge of directing the organization's general operations, which include drug trafficking, illegal gold exploitation in Venezuela, and murders. His position within the criminal structure makes him one of the main targets of U.S. authorities.

The second reward corresponds to Giovanni Vicente Mosquera Serrano, known as ''Giovanni'' and ''El Viejo''. The offer increased from 5 million to a maximum of 15 million dollars. According to investigations, he occupies the second level of command and directs the organization's operations in the United States, Colombia, and Central America.

Mosquera Serrano also appears on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, a classification reserved for criminals considered particularly dangerous and whose capture is a priority for federal authorities. Investigators link him to multiple episodes of violence related to robberies, extortion, and kidnappings.

The third target is Juan Gabriel Rivas Núñez, known as ''Juancho'', for whom Washington established a new reward of up to 15 million dollars. Authorities also identify him as second in command to Romero, although his main responsibility focuses on the group's operations within Venezuela.

The three leaders were formally charged in a new superseding indictment filed on July 29 in the Federal Court for the Southern District of Texas. The document accuses them of conspiracy to provide, provide, and attempt to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization.

The decision also represents a continuation of previously adopted measures against the criminal structure. In December 2025, the State Department had raised the reward for Mosquera Serrano to 5 million dollars. At that time, spokesperson Thomas Pigott described the Tren de Aragua as an extremely violent transnational organization that posed a deadly criminal threat to the entire hemisphere.

The U.S. offensive comes after other significant blows against the organization. In June 2026, a U.S. military strike killed Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, known as ''Niño Guerrero'', who had previously been identified as the group's top leader. Washington had offered up to 5 million dollars for information leading to his capture.

U.S. authorities attributed to Guerrero Flores the transformation of the Tren de Aragua, originally a gang that emerged within the Venezuelan prison of Tocorón, into an international criminal structure with a presence in various Latin American countries.

President Donald Trump publicly defended his strategy against these organizations and recalled that his administration fulfilled the commitment to designate the Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization, deport thousands of criminals, and launch an offensive against the cartels that have been attacking American citizens for years.

''Weak leaders left the United States defenseless and on the defensive,'' Trump stated in a post on Truth Social, claiming the change in his government's security policy.

Another advance occurred in August 2026, when Colombian security forces captured Luis Saúl Pérez Nieto, known as ''Páez'' and ''Nairobi''. Authorities described him as an important leader of the Tren de Aragua in Peru and a person close to Guerrero Flores. The DEA administrator, Terry Cole, emphasized at that time that the arrest demonstrated the importance of international cooperation to weaken the organization.

Within the United States, police operations also continue. Between October 4 and 10, 2026, federal agents arrested 131 people allegedly linked to gangs, including 13 suspected of having connections to the Tren de Aragua, according to the Department of Homeland Security.