What to Know About Venezuela’s Drug Trafficking Threat to US

U.S. forces in the Caribbean killed 11 members of a drug cartel. What is Tren de Aragua, and why does it pose a threat to the U.S.?

Peruvian police carry out the transfer of several members of the Tren de Aragua criminal organization in Lima, Peru, on Oct. 5, 2023. Cris Bouroncle/AFP via Getty Images

U.S. forces in the Caribbean killed 11 suspected members of the Tren de Aragua (TdA) narcotics cartel on Sept. 2, when they fired on a boat in the southern Caribbean Sea off the coast of Venezuela.

Earlier in 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump added the Venezuela-based group to a list of cartels and organized criminal networks that his administration has designated as “foreign terrorist organizations.”