On December 3, 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned seven individuals and four entities that are key affiliates of Tren de Aragua (“TdA”), a Venezuela-based terrorist organization that has reportedly been expanding throughout the Western Hemisphere. TdA was designated by U.S. authorities as a significant transnational criminal organization in July 2024 and as a foreign terrorist organization and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) in February 2025. According to OFAC, the group has engaged in a range of criminal activities, including drug trafficking, migrant smuggling, money laundering, and murder-for-hire.
The new designees include Venezuelan entertainer Jimena Romina Araya Navarros (aka “Rosita”) who, according to OFAC, is a member of a five-person network in the entertainment industry that allegedly helped previously-designated TdA head Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores (aka “Niño Guerrero”) escape from a Venezuelan prison in 2012 and also allegedly laundered funds for TdA leaders. OFAC also targeted several members of TdA’s hierarchy, including the group’s financial leader Kenffersso Jhosue Sevilla Arteaga (aka “El Flipper”), who reportedly serves as Guerrero’s righthand man.
The designations were imposed pursuant to Executive Order 13581, as amended, and the counterterrorism authority EO 13224, as amended. As a result of these designations, all property and interests in property within the United States or within the possession or control of a U.S. person are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions involving a designated person. Entities owned 50 percent or more by one or more designated persons are also blocked.
On the same day, the U.S. Department of State also targeted TdA. According to Department spokesperson Thomas Pigott, the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs announced a reward offer increase under the Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Giovanni Vincente Mosquera Serrano, a senior leader of TdA who was designated by OFAC in June 2025. Pigott further reported that Serrano, who allegedly oversees TdA’s global drug trafficking and financial operations, was the first member of the group to appear on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list.
U.S. Department of Treasury Press Release | U.S. Department of State Press Statement