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Photos of an investigation into Tren de Aragua operations in Chile
ARICA, Chile (AP) — Chilean prosecutors brought a record number of gang members to trial after a yearslong investigation into Tren de Aragua, the Venezuelan crime syndicate designated a foreign terrorist group by U.S. President Donald Trump. The Chilean case dismantled the gang’s northern Chile offshoot, known as Los Gallegos, and highlighted the value of long-term investigations as public enthusiasm grows for a more ruthless approach.
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This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
Alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang attend a preliminary hearing facing homicide charges, in Santiago, Chile, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
Alleged members of the Tren de Aragua sit handcuffed during a preliminary hearing where they face homicide charges, in Santiago, Chile, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
Fernando Colmenares, center, walk along the Chacalluta border as they leave Chile due to what they describe as discrimination against Venezuelans fueled by rising crime, in Arica, Chile Sunday, June 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
Officers from the regional prosecutor’s team drive through the shantytown of Cerro Chuño, a stronghold of Los Gallegos, the northern Chilean offshoot of the Tren de Aragua criminal gang, in Arica, Chile, Sunday, June 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
Tires serve as a makeshift fence in the shantytown of Cerro Chuño, a stronghold of Los Gallegos, the northern Chilean offshoot of the Tren de Aragua criminal gang, in Arica, Chile, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
Organizational charts outlining suspects and links are displayed at the office of a prosecutor investigating the Tren de Aragua gang, in Arica, Chile, Monday, June 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
Prosecutor Mario Carrera, wearing an armored vest, surveys the shantytown of Cerro Chuño, a stronghold of Los Gallegos, the northern Chilean offshoot of the Tren de Aragua criminal gang, in Arica, Chile, Sunday, June 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
Prosecutor Bruno Hernandez, left, watches customs inspections underway at Chacalluta border between Chile and Peru in Arica, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
A shoe lies in a ditch along a route used by migrants near the border crossing into Peru, in Arica, Chile, Tuesday, June 10, 2025.(AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
Seized mobile phones and electronic devices sit on a desk inside the office of the prosecutors investigating the Tren de Aragua gang, in Arica, Chile, Monday, June 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
A police tent covers the body of a person who was beheaded and left on Bernardo O’Higgins Avenue in Santiago, Chile, May 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix, File)
Police and forensic investigators work in the area where the body of former Venezuelan military officer Ronald Ojeda, who was kidnapped eight days earlier, was found in Santiago, Chile, March 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix, File)