Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on November 7, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
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Spanish police arrested 13 members of the Tren de Aragua crime gang in raids across five cities, targeting drug and human trafficking operations.
MADRID (Reuters) -Police said on Friday they had arrested 13 people accused of belonging to the first cell of Venezuela's "Tren de Aragua" crime gang detected in Spain, following raids in five cities.
Tren de Aragua, originally formed in Venezuelan prisons, has grown into one of Latin America's most violent transnational criminal networks, linked to drugs, human trafficking and extortion.
The United States this year designated it as a global terrorist organisation, citing its reach beyond the region.
Police said the arrests took place in Barcelona, Madrid, Girona, A Coruna and Valencia in an investigation into the group's alleged efforts to expand its operations into Spain, where Venezuelans make up one of the largest immigrant communities.
Officers seized synthetic drugs, cocaine, a marijuana plantation and two laboratories producing "tusi", also known as pink cocaine, a substance the gang is known to traffic.
The operation follows a 2024 arrest in Barcelona of the alleged gang leader's brother, who was accused of trying to expand the group into Spain.
(Reporting by Jesus Calero, editing by Andrei Khalip and Alex Richardson)
Money laundering is the process of making illegally obtained money appear legitimate. It typically involves three steps: placement, layering, and integration, which disguise the origins of the funds.
Human trafficking is a serious crime that involves the exploitation of individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for various purposes, including forced labor and sexual exploitation.
A criminal organization is a structured group engaged in illegal activities, often for profit. These groups may be involved in various crimes, including drug trafficking, extortion, and human trafficking.
Synthetic drugs are man-made substances designed to mimic the effects of natural drugs. They can be more potent and dangerous than their natural counterparts and are often associated with illegal drug trafficking.
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