On Wednesday, federal officials revealed that four individuals associated with the infamous Venezuelan street gang, Tren de Aragua (TdA), have admitted guilt in connection to the murders of two unarmed American citizens in New York City in May 2024.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the gang members, who had entered the country unlawfully, allegedly shot and killed Claretha LaQuesha Daniels, 44, and Justin Lawless, 36, on a residential street in the Bronx. During the incident, a third victim was also injured by gunfire.
In federal court, Keiber “Keybe” Jaen Martinez, Samuel “Klei” Gonzalez Castro, Eferson “Jefferson” Morillo-Gomez, and Keineyer “Keiner” Ibarra-Mujica admitted to charges of murder involving a firearm and using a firearm to further a violent crime.
The TdA gang members who have confessed to these crimes could face life imprisonment as the maximum penalty.
Additionally, a fifth member of the gang recently confessed to charges of racketeering conspiracy and a carjacking at gunpoint, raising the total number of convicted TdA defendants in this case to eight.
Law enforcement officials described Tren de Aragua as “one of the most vicious gangs on planet earth.”
“They rape, maim, and murder for sport,” U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Sec. Markwayne Mullin wrote in a statement. “Under President [Donald] Trump’s leadership, we are targeting and removing gang members from our communities and ensuring those that committed crimes in our country face justice.”
FILE – Guards escort inmates allegedly linked to the criminal organizations Tren De Aragua and MS-13 at CECOT prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador, on March 16, 2025. (Salvadoran Government/Getty Images)
U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said that after the TdA members illegally crossed the border, they flooded New York City streets with “guns, drugs, sex trafficking, and violence.”
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche added the terrorist group has “no place and no future in the United States,” and vowed the Justice Department will destroy the organization.
Originally a Venezuelan prison gang, TdA has rapidly expanded into a transnational terrorist organization operating in cities like New York. The group enriches itself through unlawful human smuggling across the border, armed robberies and trafficking a ketamine-mixed drug known as “tusi.”
The gang is particularly notorious for the violent sex trafficking of young women, referred to by the gang as “multadas.”
FILE – Members of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang and members of the MS-13 gang were deported to El Salvador by the US in San Salvador, El Salvador on March 31, 2025. (El Salvador Press Presidency Office/Anadolu via Getty Images))
The women are smuggled into the U.S. and forced into commercial sex work to pay off smuggling debts. TdA members maintain control over their victims by threatening their families, assaulting them, and tracking down and kidnapping women who attempt to flee.
The convicts face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
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