Spain’s National Police Corps on Thursday arrested six members of the dangerous Tren de Aragua terrorist organization involved in a series of violent armed robberies that saw them plunder millions of euros’ worth of assets and cash.
The accused Tren de Aragua members face charges of suspicion of membership in a criminal organization, robbery with violence, unlawful detention, fraud, and crimes against public health.
In an official statement, the Spanish National Police explained the arrests are the result of an extensive investigation that determined their affiliation to a Tren de Aragua branch dedicated to violent robberies.
The investigation started in August 2025 following a violent robbery at a private residence on the outskirts of Madrid. At the time, the perpetrators, armed with handguns and a powerful signal jammer, stole watches and jewelry worth 1.5 million euros, 200,000 euros in cash, and 1.3 million euros’ worth of cryptocurrency transfers.
The six arrested men stand accused for their alleged involvement in at least three similar violent robberies.
The robberies, the police detailed, followed the same pattern. Criminals would meticulously select wealthy targets, carry out extensive surveillance, studying their movements and routines to determine the best moment to strike. The gang would then violently assault and intimidate their victims, keeping them tied for hours and going as far as to point gun at their heads after loading a round into the chamber. In the third incident, one of the arrested criminals fired a handgun, causing significant, life-threatening injuries to one of the victims’ face.
Police officers raided a Madrid residence used by the gang members, and found a replica firearm, a frequency jammer, two sets of bent license plates, various watches and pieces of jewelry, 100 grams of various narcotic substances, several cell phones, and more than 2,700 euros in cash. The Spanish National Police published footage of the police raid and arrests on social media.
Founded in 2012 by Hector Rusthenford Guerrero, Tren de Aragua, a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, went from a local gang in the eponymous Venezuelan state of Aragua to a full-fledged transnational crime syndicate under the auspices of the regime of Venezuela’s deposed socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro. The group’s extensive criminal activities range from theft, extortion, kidnapping, human trafficking for sexual exploitation, migrant smuggling, smuggling, illegal mining, retail drug trafficking, and cybercrime.
For years, the Venezuelan socialist regime repeatedly claimed that Tren de Aragua did “not exist” and that the gang was allegedly “dismantled” in September 2023, when Venezuelan law enforcement officials “raided” Tocorón, a prison in Aragua that served as Tren de Aragua’s full-featured headquarters.
The gang had extravagantly remodeled the prison’s interior design, incorporating a wide array of amenities such as night clubs, zoos, pools, and marks — all while the Venezuelan Bolivarian National Guard provided external protection to the prison. Guerrero, wanted by U.S. authorities on multiple criminal charges, remains on the run since the prison “raid.”
Following the 2023 Tocorón “raid,” which saw the Venezuelan regime empty the prison and several other detention centers, Tren de Aragua dramatically expanded beyond Venezuela’s borders, expanding its litany of criminal activities and branches all throughout Latin America, the United States, and even Spain.
In November, the Spanish National Police dismantled a Tren de Aragua cell in Spain for the first time, arresting 13 suspected members of the terrorist organization. Hector Rusthenford Guerrero’s brother, Jason Robert Guerrero Flores, was arrested by Spanish police officers in March 2024.