Spanish police arrest 13 members of Venezuela's Tren de Aragua

Spanish authorities have arrested 13 alleged members of the Venezuelan criminal organisation Tren de Aragua, seizing illegal drugs and shutting down two laboratories used to produce synthetic narcotics, officials said Friday.

The coordinated raids, carried out in Barcelona, Madrid, Girona, A Coruña, and Valencia, marked Spain’s first major operation targeting what investigators believe to be a local cell of the Venezuelan prison gang. Tren de Aragua was designated a foreign terrorist organisation by the US government earlier this year.

According to police, officers discovered and dismantled two drug labs producing tusi, a potent synthetic blend of cocaine, MDMA, and ketamine. The arrests stemmed from an investigation launched last year after the brother of “Niño Guerrero,” the gang’s notorious leader, was detained in Barcelona under an international warrant issued by Venezuelan authorities.

Tren de Aragua first emerged more than a decade ago inside a violent Venezuelan prison in the central state of Aragua. Since then, it has evolved into one of Latin America’s most powerful transnational criminal networks, spreading across the continent as millions of Venezuelans fled economic collapse, reaching as far as the United States and Spain.

In a related development, the Trump administration on Friday confirmed another deadly strike against what officials described as a narcotics-trafficking vessel in the Caribbean Sea, part of its ongoing military campaign against drug operations in South American waters. US authorities said at least 69 people have been killed in 17 such strikes.

President Donald Trump has defended the operations, claiming that the US is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels, including groups like Tren de Aragua.

Spanish police said the recent arrests dealt a significant blow to the gang’s efforts to establish a foothold in Europe. Investigations are ongoing.

With inputs from agencies