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Federal authorities announced Wednesday that four members of the notorious Venezuelan street gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) pleaded guilty to the May 2024 murders of two unarmed U.S. citizens in New York City.
The gang members, who entered the US illegally, allegedly shot and killed Claretha LaQuesha Daniels, 44, and Justin Lawless, 36, in the middle of a residential street in the Bronx, while they also shot and wounded a third victim, according to a statement from the US Department of Justice (DOJ).
Keiber “Keybe” Jaén Martínez, Samuel “Klei” González Castro, Eferson “Jefferson” Morillo-Gómez and Keineyer “Keiner” Ibarra-Mujica pleaded guilty in federal court to murder by use of a firearm and using a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.
The alleged TdA gang members who pleaded guilty face a possible maximum sentence of life in prison. (DOJ)
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A fifth TdA member recently pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy and carjacking at gunpoint, bringing the total number of TdA defendants convicted in the case to eight.
Law enforcement officials described the Tren de Aragua as “one of the most vicious gangs on planet Earth.”
“They rape, maim, and murder for sport,” U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Sec. Markwayne Mullin wrote in a statement. “Under the president [Donald] “Under Trump's leadership, we are targeting and removing gang members from our communities and ensuring that those who committed crimes in our country face justice.”
FILE – Guards escort inmates allegedly linked to the Tren De Aragua and MS-13 criminal organizations at the CECOT prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador, on March 16, 2025. (Salvadoran Government/Getty Images)
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U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said that after TdA members illegally crossed the border, they flooded the streets of New York City with “guns, drugs, sex trafficking and violence.”
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche added that the terrorist group “has no place and no future in the United States” and vowed that the Justice Department will destroy the organization.
Originally a Venezuelan prison gang, TdA has rapidly expanded into a transnational terrorist organization operating in cities such as New York. The group enriches themselves by illegally smuggling people across the border, armed robberies and trafficking a ketamine-laced drug known as “tusi.”
The gang is particularly known for the violent sex trafficking of young women, whom the gang refers to as “fined.”
FILE – Members of Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang and members of the MS-13 gang were deported to El Salvador by the United States in San Salvador, El Salvador, on March 31, 2025. (Press Office of the Presidency of El Salvador/Anadolu via Getty Images))
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Women are smuggled into the United States and forced to perform commercial sex work to pay smuggled debts. TdA members maintain control over their victims by threatening their families, assaulting them, and tracking and kidnapping women who try to flee.
Those convicted face a maximum penalty of life in prison.
