A clock, a train, Michael Jordan‘s air jumpman logo are among the most recognizable tattoos US law enforcement has been using to identify members of the notorious Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
However, the body markings may soon disappear as the criminal organization’s leadership is now warning its members to stop getting the ink that announces them to authorities.
Federal law enforcement sources confirm to DailyMail.com that Tren de Aragua leadership is having its members already bearing the mob’s signature tattoos burn them off.
Tren de Aragua’s tattoos have become a flashpoint in recent days – as the Trump Administration leaned heavily on skin markings to ID Venezuelan migrants as gangsters and deport them to a supermax prison in El Salvador.
President Donald Trump justified the deportations, which did not follow the normal legal proceeding where judges sign off on each individual being removed from the US, using the controversial Alien Enemies Act.
As American courts decide if Trump is even legally able to apply the law to Venezuelan migrants, allegations have surfaced that the some of the deportees were wrongly accused of being Tren de Aragua by tattoos that were mistaken for the gang’s insignia.
One deportee had an autism awareness ribbon made out of puzzle pieces, according to The Guardian.
Another had a clock showing the time of birth for his daughter, however, the men’s lawyers insists that neither are gang members.
Tren de Aragua gang tattoos (pictured above) were part of a Department of Homeland Security bulletin shared with federal agents in 2023
But the recent confusion over tattoos could become a moot point soon since TdA, as the group is known to law enforcement, is banning them.
‘Now we’re seeing the fact that they’re not getting tattoos because they’re aware that that’s an identifier for us,’ Tim Sullivan, the Chief Patrol Agent for US Border Patrol Special Operations, told El Paso station KFOX-TV.
TdA, known to be incredibly adaptive and organized, issued the body art ban after its members interacted with Border Patrol and other federal agencies in the US.
‘They try to learn from us as much as we learn from them, and that’s what also made them, to a certain point, a difficult target to assess,’ FBI in El Paso Special Agent in Charge John Morales explained.
‘While we’re trying to do our job and we’re interviewing them at the border…they were sending that information back and telling their folks, “Don’t do A, don’t do B, don’t do C, don’t bring this or the other,” so that we wouldn’t be able to detect them or identify them.’
In the last year, police in the US have used the tattoos as a starting point in flagging them to potential gang members.
Not surprisingly, a train tattoos is a telltale sign, as Tren de Aragua is Spanish for ‘train from Aragua’- the Venezuelan province the group hails from.
Crowns and phrases related to royalty could were also branded on gang members, as the criminals who operated as foot soldiers for Venezuela’s communist’ dictator, believed they were untouchable.
Tren de Aragua is now operating in 21 states within the US
A suspected TdA mobster apprehended in El Paso, Texas. This suspected gangster even had the telltale signs of the criminal organization, like the clock tattoo on his chest
Two of the 19 individuals arrested during the Oct. 19 raid at the Palatia Apartments in San Antonio where authorities say Tren de Aragua had been operating
El Salvador’s Presidency press office shows the arrival of alleged members of the Venezuelan criminal organization Tren de Aragua at the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) in the city of Tecoluca, El Salvador
‘Hijos de Dios’ which is Spanish for ‘sons of God’ or the shorter version ‘HJ’ could also be found inked on their bodies.
The gang also has an affinity for the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan, often wearing jerseys, hats and the color red.
But even the crimson shade has a tie to the gang’s origin– it’s the color of party Venezuela’s illegitimate president, Nicholas Maduro, belongs to.
Sullivan added the body art is simply one way TdA thugs are linked to their criminal network in Venezuela.
‘It’s been just good police work that’s been able to identify them through post-arrest interviews and the joint operations that we’ve conducted,’ he said.
Those interviews are happening in great detail now that border crossings have plummeted, Border Patrol confirms.
Additionally, US federal agencies cross reference information with South American law enforcement officials in order to classify a Venezuelan migrant as Tren de Aragua affiliate.
