In recent weeks, Chile has dealt severe structural damage on the Venezuelan transnational criminal organization known as Tren de Aragua. These successes are the direct result of decisive action by Chilean security forces, bolstered by crucial international cooperation.
A landmark ruling in early June by Chile’s Oral Criminal Court of Iquique, in the Tarapacá region, led to the conviction of 12 key leaders of the Tren de Aragua. National Prosecutor Ángel Valencia described the verdict as historic, with the defendants found guilty of 39 crimes including kidnapping with homicide, human trafficking, and illicit migrant smuggling. This marked the first time a Chilean court formally recognized the existence and criminal activity of a Tren de Aragua cell on national territory.
The gang began its operations in Chile 2021 in the Tarapacá region, swiftly expanding its control over illegal activities, particularly in the border area of Colchane near Bolivia. The Chilean Attorney General’s Office identified Carlos González Vaca, alias Estrella, as the organization’s leader with Harol Rangel Villa, known as Harol Petare, and Hernán David Landaeta Garlotti, alias Satanás, as primary enforcers responsible for multiple crimes.
“We have secured the conviction of key members of the Tren de Aragua responsible for very serious crimes such as kidnapping with murder, migrant smuggling, human trafficking and more,” said Prosecutor Valencia. “In Chile, criminal organizations have no place and will have no place.”
String of successes
This major judicial success in Chile follows a string of significant enforcement operations that unfolded over the past year and in recent weeks, underscoring the growing regional coordination against the criminal group. These efforts include robust international collaboration.
In late May, a significant coordinated effort targeting Tren de Aragua’s networks, dubbed Operation Metástasis, was executed by Chilean authorities. The Attorney General’s Office and the Investigative Police (PDI) arrested 29 individuals across La Araucanía, Valparaíso, and the Metropolitan Region. These arrests targeted members of Los Piratas and Loyalty factions, who were involved in drug trafficking and the extortion of Venezuelan sex workers.
Concurrently in Argentina, 12 individuals linked to the Tren de Aragua were arrested. Argentina’s Security Minister Patricia Bullrich said via X that this cell operated as the group’s financial arm, moving millions by purchasing gold, rural properties, and high-value assets in exclusive areas, all of which have been identified for seizure. This demonstrated a significant blow to the organization’s financial structure. This operation, according to Bullrich, followed a year-long joint investigation with the FBI and Interpol.
“Multilateral Andean border security cooperation is essential and is the responsibility of several agencies, not just the police, immigration, and intelligence services,” Andrés Gómez de la Torre, a Peruvian international analyst told Diálogo. “We must develop greater border coordination between immigration and intelligence services at the police and strategic levels.”
Another significant capture occurred in March 2025, when, through coordination between the Colombian and Chilean forces, Gabriel Arturo Acosta Escalante, leader of the Hermanos Cartier cell of the Tren de Aragua, was apprehended in Antioquia, Colombia. This cell, operating in Chile’s Los Lagos region, was responsible for kidnappings, murders, extortion, drug trafficking, and money laundering. Chilean Minister of Public Security Luis Cordero confirmed that Acosta Escalante directed all criminal operations from Colombia, never stepping foot on Chilean soil, highlighting the transnational nature of the group’s leadership.
“The recent blows to the Tren de Aragua reflect significant progress in the fight against this criminal group,” Luis Toledo, director of the Center for Public Security and Organized Crime Studies at the University of San Sebastián, Chile, told Diálogo. “This combined operational model, which includes prosecutors, police, and international agencies, makes it possible to identify key nodes, such as border control in Tarapacá and money laundering networks using bus companies.”
Latest blows: Money laundering and U.S. actions
The momentum against Tren de Aragua’s financial structures continues to build. In late June, Chilean authorities announced the dismantling of a significant money laundering network linked to the gang. This operation uncovered over $13.5 million that been laundered out of Chile, originating from criminal activities. At least 52 individuals, predominantly foreign nationals, were arrested across multiple regions, including Santiago, Tarapacá, Antofagasta, Atacama, Valparaíso, O’Higgins, and Bíobío.
The United States has taken increasingly aggressive actions against Tren de Aragua. In February, the U.S. government designated the Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization.
Toledo highlighted the implications of such designation. “The designation of the Tren de Aragua as a terrorist organization by the United States […] provides key tools: It allows assets to be frozen through laws such as the Patriot Act; it expedites extraditions […]; and it facilitates military-police coordination under U.N. Resolution 1540.”
However, Toledo, formerly a chief prosecutor for the Drug Unit of the Chilean’s General Attorney’s Office, stresses that any such designation must be complemented by measures that do not yet universally exist in the region. These include regional legislative harmonization to uniformly classify crimes, as some countries do not prohibit the smuggling of certain drugs like ketamine (trafficked by the Tren de Aragua) or fully punish migrant smuggling and human trafficking. He also recommends the creation of specialized courts with judges trained in organized crime and transnational crimes, along with international witness protection, crucial given the group’s ability to threaten family members across borders.
The successes against Tren de Aragua in Chile and the broader region, reinforced by intensified international efforts and designations, underscore the critical role of sustained international cooperation and intelligence sharing in dismantling complex transnational criminal networks.
