EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Three federal agencies are targeting a fugitive Tren de Aragua leader allegedly involved in the gang’s drug trafficking and money laundering operations.
The State Department is offering a $3 million reward for information leading to the capture of Giovanni Vicente Mosquera Serrano. The Department of Justice has unsealed an indictment charging Mosquera with drug offenses and terrorism-related crimes.
The FBI has placed him on its Ten Most Wanted list and described him as a “senior leader” in the transnational criminal organization. And the Treasury Department on Tuesday moved to cut him off from any illicit money or property he may be keeping in the United States, and warned financial institutions and other third parties that they could face civil and criminal penalties for doing business with him.
“TdA remains focused on terrorizing our communities and facilitating the flow of illicit narcotics into our country, relying on key leaders like Mosquera Serrano to finance and oversee their violent operations,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement
Tren de Aragua, or TdA, was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the U.S. government last February. Federal officials say it engages in drug trafficking, human smuggling, extortion, sexual exploitation of women and children, and money laundering.
The gang originated inside a prison in Venezuela and expanded its reach to several countries in Latin America and, recently, into major cities in the United States.
Several people associated with Tren de Aragua were linked by local authorities to illicit activities in a hotel in Downtown El Paso. A brutal jewelry store robbery perpetrated by TdA members in the Denver area was caught on video, also last year.
The U.S. government previously targeted three other Tren de Aragua top leaders, offering a combined $12 million reward for information leading to their arrest and/or conviction.
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