Chelsea’s Moises Caicedo, second right, celebrates with teammates after scoring his side’s fourth goal during the Europa Conference League final soccer match between Real Betis and Chelsea in Wroclaw, Poland, Wednesday, May 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
Soldiers raid the Tocorón Penitentiary Center, in Tocorón, Venezuela, Sept. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)Soldiers raid the Tocorón Penitentiary Center, in Tocorón, Venezuela, Sept. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)
Family members of inmates watch as soldiers raid the Tocorón Penitentiary Center, in Tocorón, Venezuela, Sept. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)Family members of inmates watch as soldiers raid the Tocorón Penitentiary Center, in Tocorón, Venezuela, Sept. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)After they lost the prison, some members of the gang scattered, and Guerrero got away.
Members of the military used heavy equipment to destroy some of the amenities the gang had built. But the massive operation in Tocorón came too late to prevent the gang from crossing Venezuela’s borders.Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Chile — all with large populations of Venezuelan migrants — have accused the group of being behind violent crimes.
The gang’s initial work abroad focused on exploiting Venezuelan migrants through loan sharking, human trafficking and the smuggling of contraband goods to and from Venezuela. But as migrants settled in their host countries, Tren de Aragua members joined or clashed with local criminal organizations engaged in drug trafficking, extortion of local businesses and murders for hire.
The gang became known in Colombia in 2022 after authorities found at least at least 19 bodies in the capital, some dismembered, and linked Guerrero associates to the killings. And in Chile last year, authorities blamed the gang for the killing of a Venezuelan officer who had fled there after taking part in a failed plot to overthrow Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.Experts said the FAA and other authorities could do more. They suggested creating a system similar to speed cameras on roadways that could capture a drone’s transponder code and send its pilots a ticket in the mail.
They also said the FAA should consider regulations that require all manufacturers to program a drone’s GPS unit to prevent it from flying near airports and other sensitive areas, a method called “geofencing.”DJI, a leading drone maker, used such geofencing restrictions for years. However, it
in January, replacing it with an alert to drone pilots when they approach restricted areas.Adam Welsh, head of global policy at DJI, said managing requests from authorized users to temporarily disable the geofencing became an increasingly time-consuming task. More than one million such requests were processed last year.