Tipsheet

Attorney General Todd Blanche Announces the Arrest of Eight Tren de Aragua Gang Members

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  July 01, 2026 12:20 PM

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel held a press conference today to talk about investigations into the Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang out of Venezuela. Blanche announced charges against several TdA members.

Blanche announced several arrests of TdA members, and blamed the Biden administration for the chaos the gang has caused.

"Eight allegedly illegal alien members of the Tren de Aragua foreign terrorist organization are being charged with vicious kidnappings and murders in separate cases out of Texas and Illinois. These violent murders should never have occurred in the first place because these men should have never been allowed in our country," Blanche said. "Instead, 8 TDA members from Venezuela came here illegally, all 8, every one of them, during the Biden administration, and went on to allegedly commit the heinous crimes described in the charges discussed today."

Blanche talked about the work the DOJ and other agencies have been doing to combat illegal alien gang activity and other violent crime.

Kash Patel also spoke.

"Thanks to President Trump's historic leadership and decision to designate TdA as terrorists, because that's what they are, law enforcement was given the tools for the first time to go after this vicious gang for what they are: violent, vicious gangsters," Patel said. "Gangs are the reason why so many drugs, guns, and violence are deployed onto our streets and onto our community."

"We have seen a 519 percent increase in arrests," Patel said, as it relates to TdA.

"We are safeguarding American citizens and American communities because President Trump decided to put law enforcement first."

Blanche and Patel were joined by officials from Texas and Illinois.

Ryan Raybould, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, spoke about the charges, too.

"TdA is a transnational criminal organization that has metastasized its reach across the western hemisphere by preserving and promoting its power through intimidation and violence," Raybould said. "The Trump administration has helped us return freedom back to our communities by systemically attacking and dismantling TdA and other criminal enterprises."

Andrew Boutros, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, also spoke about indictments in his state.

"A criminal complaint was filed yesterday ... charging three individuals with kidnapping, conspiracy, and committing a kidnapping that resulted in death," Boutros said. He also shared details of the horrific kidnapping that made the basis of the complaint. A Chicago man was abducted by suspected gang members and taken to an apartment where he was tied up. They then moved the victim to another location where he was shot and killed. 

"I want you to think about those facts for a moment. A man kidnapped from a park in Chicago in broad daylight, beaten, held against his will, taken to an abandoned building and shot multiple times," Boutros said. "All in the name of Tren de Aragua."