Venezuelan authorities reported the arrival on Sunday of a new flight of 175 migrants expelled by the United States, including a gang leader – the first time Caracas has confirmed a criminal was among the deportees.
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US President Donald Trump has launched a crackdown on migrants since coming to power in January, deporting hundreds of people to Latin America that his administration has branded as “gangsters”.
“For the first time, in these flights … someone of weight arrives who has been claimed by the Venezuelan justice system,” said Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello.
The minister added that the man was “not from Tren de Aragua,” referring to the Venezuelan gang that Washington branded a “foreign terrorist organisation” and claims many of the deported Venezuelan migrants belong to.
Cabello received the migrants at the Maiquetia International Airport that serves Caracas.
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“He belongs to a gang from Trujillo state, the gang … El Cagon,” Cabello added, without offering further details on the criminal’s identity.
Cabello said that of the migrants received by Venezuela so far, none were members of Tren de Aragua.