How Spain Dismantled Tren de Aragua's First Cell in Europe

On November 7, Spain declared that, after an investigation lasting over a year, it had dismantled Europe’s first operational branch of Tren de Aragua.

The raids unfolded simultaneously across five cities: eight arrests in Barcelona, two in Madrid, and one each in Girona, Valencia. One man was arrested in Porto do Son last week.

Thirteen Venezuelans and Colombians were arrested in total. Four were remanded into custody by the judge, who noted they were the leader and lieutenants of the outfit. The roles and current status of the other nine has not been clarified.

According to police, this was not a scattered effort but a highly organised network. Barcelona was its command post, with members moving between short-term rentals and nightclubs that doubled as micro-distribution hubs.

Below, World of Crime explains how Spanish police built this investigation after following the brother of Tren de Aragua’s supreme leader and explains how serious this investigation really was.