A suspected senior leader of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua has been extradited from Colombia to the United States and appeared in federal custody in Houston on terrorism and international drug trafficking charges, federal prosecutors announced.
Jose Enrique Martinez Flores, 24, also known as “Chuqui,” is accused of providing material support to Tren de Aragua, which the U.S. State Department designated earlier this year as a foreign terrorist organization and Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, Flores was arrested in Colombia on March 31, 2025, after U.S. authorities requested a provisional arrest warrant. He was scheduled to make his initial appearance on Friday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Christina A. Bryan in Houston.
Prosecutors allege Flores was part of the inner circle of Tren de Aragua leadership operating in Bogotá, Colombia, and oversaw criminal activities that included drug trafficking, extortion, prostitution, and murder.
The indictment charges Flores with conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization. He is also accused of participating in an international cocaine trafficking conspiracy involving at least five kilograms of cocaine allegedly intended for distribution in the United States.
Federal authorities allege proceeds from the cocaine operation were used to advance the gang’s criminal activities.
If convicted, Flores faces up to life in prison and a possible $10 million fine.
Officials said Flores is the first known member of Tren de Aragua extradited from Colombia to the United States.
The case is part of a broader federal crackdown on Tren de Aragua. This transnational criminal organization originated in Venezuela and has expanded throughout Latin America and into the United States.
A federal grand jury in Houston returned a second superseding indictment in December 2025, charging three additional alleged gang leaders: Yohan Jose Romero, also known as “Johan Petrica”; Juan Gabriel Rivas Nunez, also known as “Juancho”; and Giovanni Vicente Mosquera Serrano, also known as “El Viejo.”
Mosquera Serrano is listed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list and remains a fugitive, along with Romero and Rivas Nunez.
The State Department is offering a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Mosquera Serrano and up to $4 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Romero.
Anyone with information about these fugitives is asked to contact the FBI via WhatsApp or Telegram at 281-787-9939, submit a tip at tips.fbi.gov, or visit the nearest FBI office, American Embassy, or Consulate.
The investigation was conducted through Joint Task Force Vulcan and the Homeland Security Task Force, a multiagency initiative targeting transnational criminal organizations, cartels, and gangs operating in the United States and abroad.
Federal officials said Colombian law enforcement agencies, including the Colombian National Police and the Colombian Attorney General’s Office, assisted in securing Flores’ arrest and extradition.
