SWJ–El Centro Book Review – Tren de Aragua: The Guide to America’s Growing Criminal Threat
Chris Dalby, Tren de Aragua: The Guide to America’s Growing Criminal Threat. Virtual: World of Crime, 2025. [ISBN: 978-9083423968, Paperback, 279 pages]
Chris Dalby is the founder of World of Crime, a virtual think tank investigating organized crime. He holds a M.S. in Diplomacy and Security Studies from Liverpool John Moores University. As a journalist, he has reported from over twenty countries on five continents including Mexico, Brazil, China, and Malaysia. As a consultant, he has helped governments and non-profits make sense of urgent criminal challenges. Dalby is also the author of CJNG: A Quick Guide to Mexico’s Deadliest Cartel (World of Crime, 2024), the first in a series of guides to the most dangerous organized crime groups in the world. Tren de Aragua: The Guide to America’s Growing Criminal Threat represents the second book in the series.
The new work captures the essence of the Tren de Aragua (TdA) and provides insights into the narrative sounding it, seeking to clarify what the transnational gang truly is and dispel the misleading and often contradictory information related to it encountered by law enforcement and other law-making organizations:
“The motivation to write this book arose precisely because of the profound confusion and misinformation that has come to define Tren de Aragua today…The reality is far more complicated. Tren de Aragua is neither a monolithic organization, nor is it nonexistent. Instead, it has evolved into something altogether more layered: a criminal brand-for-hire.” (pp. 7–8)
Structure of the Book
Dalby structured the book thematically, with each chapter providing the reader with a full and holistic understanding of TdA’s history, personnel, and criminal activities and operations through early 2025. It features an introduction, seventeen chapters, and essential resource recommendations for further reading. While each chapter can stand alone, reading the book in a sequential order groups chapters together in five themes:
Origins and Initial Impact of Tren de Aragua—Chapters 1-3: Traces the rise of TdA from its roots in Venezuela’s 2014 crisis to its consolidation of power inside and beyond prison walls. It begins with the social and economic upheavals that allowed organized crime to flourish, setting the stage for the gang’s birth. It then explores Tocorón prison, where the absence of state control enabled inmates to create the “pranato” system—a parallel city and economy run by criminal leaders. Finally, it shows how TdA projected its power outward to nearby San Vicente, imposing its own rules on residents, police, and rival groups.
Major Players and Personnel of Tren de Aragua—Chapters 4-6: Profiles the key figures who shaped TdA’s rise and sustained its power. Chapter 4 surveys the gang’s inner circle and the politicians who supported or enabled them, presenting each person’s criminal background, path into the organization, and their status. Chapter 5 focuses on Niño Guerrero, the gang’s kingpin, tracing his trajectory from a troubled childhood to his dominance in Tocorón, the creation and expansion of TdA, and his political alliances. Chapter 6 introduces Johan Petrica, showing how he leveraged the group’s influence to seize control of a lucrative gold mining operation and its surrounding community in Las Claritas.
The Criminal Enterprises of Tren de Aragua—Chapters 7-11: Examines the diversified criminal economy that fuels TdA’s power and reach. It begins with the group’s heavy reliance on extortion as its primary source of income, particularly in the destabilized environment of post–2010s Venezuela. It then exposes the organization’s international sex-trafficking networks, which grew from supplying Tocorón’s leaders to exploiting migrants across multiple countries. The attempted government crackdown on Tocorón, covered in Chapter 9, underscores both the risks and resilience of the gang as it escaped the raid and regrouped. Chapters 10 and 11 reveal how TdA expanded its brand beyond Venezuela by diversifying into other markets such as ketamine, nightclubs, baseball, and cryptocurrency.
Relationship between the United States, Venezuela, and Tren de Aragua—Chapters 12-14: Explores the complex interplay between TdA, Venezuela, and the United States. It begins with the group’s ties to the Venezuelan state, showing how corruption and political opportunism enabled the gang to act as an unofficial arm of power, using assassinations and other operations for political gain. It then shifts to the United States, detailing TdA’s activities in specific states under the Trump-led administration in 2025 and how U.S. authorities designated TdA as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO).
The Geographical Expansion of Tren de Aragua—Chapters 15-17: Charts the spread of TdA beyond Venezuela as it evolved into a hemispheric criminal force. It begins with the gang’s first major foreign foothold in Colombia, tracing how it established operations there and adapted to local conditions. It then turns to Chile, examining why the country was seen as a “promised land” for expansion and the challenges posed by both internal missteps and Chilean law enforcement. Finally, it broadens to a panoramic view of TdA’s footprint across the Americas, recounting its activities in seven different countries and the key events that marked its arrival.
Analysis and Critique
The book functions as an introductory compendium to Tren de Aragua, aggregating information on organizational personnel, geography, politics, and business ventures to produce a holistic understanding of transnational gang. The greatest strength of the book comes from its ability to be read and understood to fulfill informational purposes by both academics and non-academics. Dalby nailed the informative style of writing while maintaining sources in the information provided. There are also illustrations of some of the more hard-to-believe events in the book. For example: It is one thing to read about the construction of a nightclub directly inside of a prison, it is a whole different thing to see an actual picture of it. The second strength of the book is the thematic grouping of information. Grouping the chapters into themes allows the ability to quickly follow-up on information in the book for research and understanding. As an example: If one wishes to know how Tren de Aragua relates to the nation of Chile, turning to Chapter 16 “Chile, The Promised Land” and reading from there will provide the reader with the perspective they require and serve as a foundational basis to research the subject matter further.
While the work is geared towards professional readers it has definite academic utility given the research void on this subject matter. Overall, the book is more than adequately referenced. It uses an online URL link to a dedicated World of Crime web page to access the citations which has the advantage of providing direct access to them. The work is also well priced in both its digital and paperback formats making it a very affordable research and educational product.
Conclusion
Tren de Aragua: The Guide to America’s Growing Criminal Threat is an original and essential book filled with the accurate story of this criminal group and its history and development. Dalby’s research and experience are integrated into all chapters of this book, with a thematic structure providing an easy-to-understand reading experience. It is meant to be practical in orientation and designed for professionals in the field. The book is well-suited to novice readers, presenting complex information in a clear and accessible manner for those with little prior knowledge of the subject. Both novice and expert readers will come away with a holistic and thorough understanding of Tren de Aragua.
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El Centro readers can additionally draw upon the work: “Third Generation Gangs Subject Bibliography No 1: Tren de Aragua (TdA)” for further resources and publications focusing on this transnational gang.
