Venezuelan sex trafficking gang that brands young girls operating in US, linked to ex-cop’s murder: reports

A brutal Venezuelan street gang that controls sex trafficking in South America by branding women and young girls with tattoos behind their ears is exporting its violence to the US, according to reports.

Tren de Aragua, which is named for the Venezuelan state of Aragua, is now operating in South Florida following the arrest this week of a suspect wanted in a brutal murder in Miami, according to reports.

Yurwin Salazar Maita was charged with the November murder of a retired Venezuelan cop outside a hotel near the Miami airport. Miami-Dade authorities say Salazar is linked to the brutal gang.

Tren de Aragua is led by Hector Guerrero Flores, a 40 year-old fugitive who controlled drug trafficking and human trafficking while he was incarcerated in one of the Venezuela’s maximum security prisons for more than a decade. He escaped in September, and his whereabouts are unknown. Arrest warrants in several Latin American countries have been issued for Guerrero, who is known by his moniker, “El Nino Guerrero.”

Jose Luis Sanchez Valera was found dead in his vehicle outside a Miami hotel in November. Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang, is suspected of being behind the crime. Telemundo 51

A wanted poster showing Tren de Aragua gang leader Hector Guerrero, whose gang has shown up in South Florida. Venezuelan Interior Ministry

Yurwin Salazar Maita, an alleged member of Venezuela’s most brutal gang, was arrested earlier this week in Florida in relation to a brutal murder in Miami in November, MiamiDadePD/X

In Florida, a homicide investigation linked to Tren de Aragua began late last year when authorities began probing the killing of a former Venezuelan police officer lured to his death by two women, according to reports.

The victim, Jose Luis Sanchez, was enticed by the women to got to a hotel near the Miami airport, where suspected gang members robbed and killed him.

The victim was found dead with his hands and feet bound with tape inside a vehicle, according to reports.

Retired Venezuelan cop Jose Luis Sanchez was lured to his death by two women who were allegedly controlled by the Tren de Aragua gang in South Florida. MiamiDadePD/X

Venezuelan authorities stand guard outside the Tocoron prison after gang kingpin Hector Guerrero escaped in in September. AFP via Getty Images

The suspects later robbed the victim’s apartment, where they found a safe containing gold in a bedroom, according to a report from Telemundo, a Spanish language network.

Guerrero has ruled his criminal enterprise from inside Tocoron prison, which is about 100 miles southwest of Caracas, with the help of his brother Cheison Rover Guerrero and his brother-in-law Neomar Antonio Aldana, among others.

The gang, which is suspected of money-laundering and human trafficking, has more than 4,000 members, according to Spanish-language news reports.