According to the FBI and Gang Intelligence units data, there are more than 25,000 organized gangs already established in the United States. Estimates from the US Department of Justice are upwards of 1,000,000 active gang members.

The US states with the most recorded gang incidents as of 2023, are: Nevada, California, New Mexico, New York, Idaho, Illinois, Georgia and Michigan. Chicago boasts the city with most gangs. Los Angeles, Detroit and Atlanta not far behind. Most of the gangs with repeated violent incidents and criminal arrests are long established groups.

However, in recent years gangs or bandas from Central and South America have made their way into the “land of opportunity” with impunity. The United States of America is now hosting the most ruthless and intractable criminal gangs.

One of them has been in the national news as of the past month because of terrorizing suburban businesses and neighborhoods. This savage group from Venezuela calls itself “Tren de Aragua”. 

Officials have nicknamed them a “Super Gang”.

The Tren de Aragua (Aragua train) gang/banda is named after the Venezuelan state of Aragua, where the gang originated. They evolved from a group of inmates who seized control of a local prison, then expanded to neighboring Colombia and Chile in 2018. They gained their vicious reputation because one of their “signatures” is dismembering their victims. From these countries their “train” moved north in a steady drive to the US border. One federal official described the gang as “MS-13 on steroids”.

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