The Treasury Department of the USA announced Thursday that it sanctioned the main leaders of the Venezuelan prison gang Aragua Train for their participation in criminal activities, including illicit drug trafficking, people trafficking and money laundering.
The sanctions are addressed to the leader of the MegaBanda Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, also known as “Niño Guerrero,” and five other key and affiliate leaders of the gang, said the Office of Foreign Assets Control.the State Department has offered a reward of five million dollars for information that allows for his apprehension or conviction.
The United States has designated Aragua Train as a foreign terrorist organization.
“The Trump governance will not allow Aragua Train to continue terrorizing our communities and damaging innocent Americans,” and “remains committed to the dismantling” of the group, said Secretary Scott Besent in a statement.
The United States also points to the co-founder of the Yohan Pandilla,José Romero,nicknamed “Johan Petrica,” whom it accuses of being involved in illegal mining and providing the Aragua train “military degrees used to control the streets of Venezuela and fight against Colombian guerrillas.”
The other sanctioned individuals are Josué Ángel Santana Peña, aka “Santanita,” supposedly “involved in homicide, extortion, bombings, terrorism and robbery”; and Wilmer José Pérez Castillo, accused of the murder of members of the Venezuelan security forces, among other crimes.
Completing the list are Wendy Marbelys Ríos Gómez, wife of “Niño Guerrero,” and Félix Anner Castillo Rondón, aka “Pure Arnel,” leader of an Aragua Train cell known as “Los Gallegos” that has operated in Chile.
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