Federal officials on Monday arrested 16 members of the Anti-Tren gang, a rival of the violent Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua (TdA), in Texas in what is being described as the largest Anti-Tren crackdown yet.

Of those 16 gang members, 14 are charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 5 kilograms of cocaine, and two are charged separately with various weapons offenses based on their alleged possession and sale of firearms, according to the Justice Department.

“These arrests are the largest takedown of suspected Anti-Tren members and associates by the FBI, so far, and they happened right here in Houston,” FBI Houston Special Agent in Charge Douglas Williams said in a Monday statement. “These individuals are accused of engaging in a turf war with TdA members and carrying out numerous violent crimes throughout our city, including a mass shooting at a local sports bar that left six people wounded.”

Charges alleged that Anti-Tren is a criminal organization mostly composed of former TdA members known for its deadly turf wars, as well as gun and drug trafficking.

Map of Tren de Aragua presence in the United States as of December 2024. (Fox News Digital)

The U.S. Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the case with the Department of Justice’s Joint Task Force Vulcan (JTFV), which was created to combat MS-13 and expanded to include TdA under Attorney General Pam Bondi.

The 16 arrests come as part of Operation Take Back America, “a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime,” according to the DOJ.