Following the ongoing mass deportation efforts in the United States, 238 Venezuelan men were detained under suspicion of gang activity. The alleged gang is “Tren de Argua,” a prevalent crime organization in Venezuela and other parts of South America. This gang and many others were declared terrorist organizations by President Trump on his first day in office this year. Many of these South American gangs do have identifiable tattoos, such as MS-13, but experts say identifying Tren de Argua members by tattoos is not reliable. These tattoos were why many of the men involved in this mass deportation were detained, though.

Some symbols outlined by the government were crowns, skulls, trains, clocks, and stars. The men detained have all been transported to the infamous “Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo” or CECOT because of a deal negotiated by President Trump and the President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele. According to government documents 75% of the venzualens who were deported did not have a criminal record. Of the 22% who did (3% had an unclear history) mostly were convicted of non violent crimes. This story is still developing and it is currently unclear how long the captured men have been ordered to stay in CECOT.