Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York have charged 27 people described as members and associates of a splinter faction of the Tren de Aragua gang in a superseding indictment including two Bronx homicides and other crimes.
The 38-count superseding indictment names defendants whom prosecutors identified as members or affiliates of the Anti-Tren gang that emerged from Tren de Aragua, which federal authorities on Jan.20, 2025 designated a foreign terrorist organization.
Prosecutors used racketeering conspiracy or RICO statutes, tying groups to crimes, for a wide range of actions, including some linked to an April 15, 2024 double murder in the Bronx.
Prosecutors also brought murder-for-hire conspiracy, kidnapping in aid of racketeering, sex trafficking and sex trafficking conspiracy charges.
The indictment adds six people, including five in custody, to the 21 who were already charged in a previous 12-count indictment for the case assigned to the U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil.
“The gang members charged today exerted ruthless control over sex trafficking victims through intimidation, brutality, and threats of violence against them and their loved ones — leaving lasting trauma in their wake,” the indictment read.
Prosecutors said Anti-Tren was “almost exclusively comprised of former members and associates” of Tren de Aragua and includes groups such as the “Espartanos.”
Prosecutors describe Tren de Aragua as a prison gang that started in and grew beyond Venezuela and from which they said Anti-Tren emerged.
Tren de Aragua, prosecutors said in a previous announcement, gained a “substantial foothold in the U.S., including in New York City.”
Some Tren de Aragua members “disavowed the gang and described themselves as Anti-Tren,” which allegedly led to hostilities between Tren de Aragua and Anti-Tren members.
Anti-Tren, prosecutors said, has operated throughout New York City, New Jersey, Illinois, Washington and elsewhere.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York has charged nearly 40 members or associates of Tren de Aragua and Anti-Tren under RICO statutes for various crimes.
U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton in a statement said the racketeering charges encompass a wide range of crimes “including gunpoint robberies, murders and…. sex trafficking.”
Double homicide in the Bronx
Prosecutors charged Yender Maykier Mata, Ervin Hernandez and Kerlyn Nataliy Perez-Lopez conspired to kill Jhombeyker Jose Bisbal Pina and Adrian Mendoza Isturiz, who on or around April 15 were shot to death by “one of the conspirators” in a vehicle near 279 East 149th Street in the Bronx.
PIX 11 News at the time reported that Mendoza, 24, and Bisval, 31, were seated in a Nissan Rogue in front of McDonald’s on East 149th St. in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx at around 4 a.m.
Mendoza was shot in the head and body and Bisbal was shot six times in the chest, body, and shoulder, NYPD Chief of detectives Joseph Kenny told the TV station.
The shooter arrived in a Honda Civic, and police observed him on video walking past the car victims’ before changing directions, Kenny told the network.
Planning and premeditation
Prosecutors said those charged with the murder “willfully and knowingly combined, conspired, confederated and agreed together and with each other to commit murder.”
Prosecutors also charged that they “committed the offense after substantial planning and premeditation” and “killed or attempted to kill more than one person in a single criminal episode.”
Prosecutors charged that this was part of a “murder for hire conspiracy” that fell within the realm of the racketeering charges.
The superseding indictment also charges on or around January 2025, Keiswuel Orlando Palacios-Milano, Anderson Zambrano-Pacheco, Mario Pereda, Avendano Carrizalez and Carlos Gabriel Santos Mogollon conspired to rob a drug dealer at gunpoint, in the Bronx.
In addition to that robbery, Anderson Zambrano-Pacheco faces other charges. Homeland Security Investigations on Jan. 30, 2025 arrested him on charges of being a fugitive from justice with a firearm.
According to investigators, law enforcement tracked Zambrano-Pacheco to an apartment in the Bronx, where they found a loaded Smith and Wesson 9mm Pro Series pistol in a dresser drawer.
Racketeering charges
Charges filed against others included conspiring to kill people in Florida and New York, home invasion robbery in Yonkers, and sex trafficking of Venezuelan women described as “multadas” allegedly smuggled into the United States who then worked to pay off their debts.
The racketeering indictment also includes charges of causing a kidnapping, as well as shooting gang members in the leg as punishment.
Prosecutors said Anti-Tren and its members engaged in “intimidation, threats, and violence against potential witnesses to crimes committed by members of Anti-Tren.”
They said some also provided lodging and transportation for those seeking to evade prosecution.
This case, prosecutors added, was brought as part of “Operation Take Back America” with all charges as accusations until and unless proved beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The federal government has cited Tren de Aragua when taking other actions, announcing on Sept. 25, 2025 that the U.S. Navy sank a boat allegedly carrying drugs, said to be operated by Tren de Aragua, killing 11 on board.
