Key Takeaways
- Spain’s National Police caught 6 Tren de Aragua members over a €1.3M crypto theft, with 3 jailed next.
- Harming market safety, Tren de Aragua stole €1.3M in crypto, forcing Spain to next prosecute 6 suspects.
- Following 2024 OFAC crypto sanctions, the US labeled Tren de Aragua an FTO to next block global laundering.
Spain’s National Police cracks down on Tren de Aragua-linked criminal group
Spain’s National Police have dismantled an organization that targeted high-profile individuals holding jewels, cash, and cryptocurrency.
On Thursday, the police revealed the arrest of 6 individuals who were allegedly part of this organization, which had ties to the Venezuelan criminal group Tren de Aragua. National Police started an investigation into this group in August 2025, examining a house theft in Madrid. In this instance, €1.5 million in jewels and watches and €1.3 million in cryptocurrency were stolen.
Some of the individuals, already in police custody, were involved in similar thefts, where victims were tied, gagged, and held at gunpoint to force them to give up their crypto and fiat money holdings, using continued violence as a tool to achieve these purposes.
The police report indicates that in one instance, as a victim resisted, a gunshot was fired, putting the victim’s life in jeopardy.
Agents indicated that the group first studied its targets, selecting only high-profile individuals who were put under surveillance and then coerced to meet in vacation apartments for different reasons.
The group is now facing membership in a criminal organization, violent robbery, unlawful detention, fraud, and crimes against public health charges. The imprisonment of three of its members has already been ordered.
Tren de Aragua, a criminal organization of Venezuelan origins, has been singled out for integrating cryptocurrency as part of its criminal tools, including crypto theft and crypto money laundering in its illicit activity portfolio.
The U.S. Department of State labeled Tren de Aragua as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) in February 2025. In 2024, it was sanctioned by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for laundering funds through cryptocurrency.
Also, in July, Chilean authorities disarmed the associated subgroup “Tren del Mar,” which laundered over $13.5 million, taking cues from groups like the Sinaloa Cartel.
