Federal authorities have unsealed an indictment charging five individuals allegedly affiliated with the Venezuelan transnational gang Tren de Aragua (TDA) in connection with a 2024 kidnapping and murder outside Dallas. The announcement was made during a Department of Justice press conference led by Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel, which highlighted a broader federal effort to dismantle the gang after the Trump administration designated it a foreign terrorist organization.
The charges stem from an incident on August 24, 2024, in Farmers Branch, a suburb located approximately 31 miles east of Fort Worth. According to Ryan Rabel, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, the case began when TDA members kidnapped a man and two children, identified as his 13-year-old daughter and 12-year-old nephew, while demanding a ransom. The victims were zip-tied during the abduction.
When the family could not provide the demanded funds, the captors stopped near a bridge in Dallas and ordered the man to jump. Rabel stated that when the man refused and attempted to flee, a gang member shot him in front of the children. Farmers Branch police later found the man dead on the roadside with a single gunshot wound between his eyes. The two children were left behind but survived.
A federal grand jury in the Northern District of Texas has charged the five defendants with interstate racketeering, murder, kidnapping, and financial schemes involving ATM jackpotting. The defendants are identified as Hector Garcia Zuniga, known as Murray and described as a high-ranking TDA official; Carlos Luis Zambrano Bolivar; Yanni Jesus Serrano; Yonatan Toro Gonzalez; and Ejaiquer Mendoza. All are foreign nationals who entered the United States illegally.
Federal officials noted that the suspects crossed the southern border between December 2021 and April 2024. Three of the accused are currently in U.S. custody for separate offenses, one is held in Colombia, and an international investigation continues. Officials stated that since the gang’s terrorist designation 18 months ago, nearly 350 members have been charged or convicted nationwide through Joint Task Force Vulcan and Homeland Security Task Forces.
