NEW YORK, NY, Sept. 18, 2025 – The Justice Department announced the unsealing of a superseding indictment charging 10 members of the designated foreign terrorist organization Tren de Aragua (TdA) with racketeering conspiracy and multiple violent crimes in New York, including two murders in the Bronx and a gang-related shooting in Queens.
The indictment, unsealed in the Southern District of New York, charges Keiber Jaen Martinez, Samuel Gonzalez Castro, Eferson Morillo-Gomez, Keiver Silva-Jimenez, Keineyer Ibarra-Mujica, and Marlon Farias with the May 24, 2024, murders of 44-year-old Claretha LaQuesha Daniels and 36-year-old Justin Lawless in the vicinity of 2290 Davidson Avenue in the Bronx. A third victim was also shot and wounded.
Gonzalez Castro was additionally charged in connection with an August 3, 2024, shooting near Roosevelt Avenue and 90th Street in Queens, where a rival gang member and an innocent bystander were injured. Other counts in the indictment include drug trafficking, firearms offenses, carjacking, Hobbs Act robbery, and sex trafficking involving young women smuggled from Venezuela.
According to court documents, Tren de Aragua operates throughout the Bronx and Queens and internationally across Venezuela, Peru, and Colombia. The group is accused of operating a transnational criminal enterprise engaging in murder, armed robbery, sex trafficking, drug distribution—including a ketamine-based substance known as “tusi”—and witness intimidation.
The indictment outlines allegations of human smuggling, enforced commercial sex work, and violent retaliation against victims attempting to flee. TdA members are accused of using threats, physical assaults, and even murder to control their victims and protect the organization.
Eight of the 10 defendants are currently in federal or state custody. One, Keiver Silva-Jimenez, remains at large. Another, Marlon Farias, was previously removed from the United States by immigration authorities.
The investigation is part of Joint Task Force Vulcan and Operation Take Back America, initiatives focused on dismantling transnational criminal organizations. U.S. District Judge Denise L. Cote is presiding over the case in the Southern District of New York.
The charges in the superseding indictment include:
- Racketeering conspiracy – Maximum penalty: life imprisonment
- Murder and assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering – Penalty: life or death
- Firearms use during crimes of violence – Mandatory minimums ranging from 7 to 10 years, with maximums up to life
- Drug trafficking, carjacking, Hobbs Act robbery – Penalties range from 5 to 20 years
- Possession of firearms and ammunition by illegal aliens – Up to 15 years
The FBI, HSI, NYPD, ATF, and numerous other federal and local partners contributed to the investigation. The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York’s Violent and Organized Crime Unit, with assistance from the DOJ’s Criminal and National Security Divisions.
