MADRID: Spanish police arrested 13 suspected members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang, seized a stash of illegal drugs and dismantled two drug laboratories, authorities said Friday.
The arrests were made in five cities in the first operation in Spain to dismantle a suspected cell of the Venezuelan prison gang, which the US government designated a foreign terrorist organization in February, police said in a statement.
The gang has become a key reference in the Trump administration’s military strikes against suspected drug vessels in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean, and in its domestic immigration crackdown.
As part of the operation, Spanish police said they dismantled two laboratories used to make tusi – a mixture of cocaine, MDMA and ketamine.
The arrests followed an investigation the Spanish police opened last year after the brother of “Niño Guerrero,” the leader of the Tren de Aragua gang, was arrested in Barcelona under an international arrest warrant issued by Venezuelan authorities, police said.
The Tren de Aragua gang originated in Venezuela more than a decade ago at an infamously lawless prison with hardened criminals in the central state of Aragua. The gang has expanded in recent years as more than 7.7 million Venezuelans fled economic turmoil and migrated to other Latin American countries, the US and Spain.
The Trump administration Friday announced yet another deadly US strike on a boat officials said was trafficking narcotics in the Caribbean Sea, bringing the death toll from the administration’s campaign in South American waters up to at least 69 people in at least 17 strikes.
US President Donald Trump has justified the strikes by saying his country is in “armed conflict” with drug cartels such as the Tren de Aragua gang.
The arrests of the 13 took place in the Spanish cities of Barcelona, Madrid, Girona, A Coruna and Valencia.
Spanish police arrest 13 suspected members of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang
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Spanish police arrest 13 suspected members of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang
- Arrests made in five cities in the first operation in Spain to dismantle a suspected cell of the Tren de Aragua gang
UK starts visa requirements for St. Lucians
- Saint Lucia’s government said it was actively engaging with British government
- It said it would continue talks to “explore pathways for maintaining strong mobility arrangements“
CASTRIES: Britain has introduced a visa requirement for Saint Lucians effective from Thursday citing a “notable increase” in nationals from the small Caribbean nation claiming asylum, Saint Lucia’s government said in a statement.
Immigration is one of Britain’s most politically sensitive issues, and Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government has sought to show it is tightening the system as the populist Reform UK party gains ground in opinion polls.
Saint Lucia, a former British colony, has a population of about 180,000. Last year, the World Bank estimated a net emigration of just 23 people.
Its government said it was actively engaging with British government and would continue talks to “explore pathways for maintaining strong mobility arrangements.”
It said it was informed in a letter dated Wednesday.
Saint Lucia is a member of the Commonwealth, an association of mostly former British colonies. Before the 1970s, nationals of many of these had the right to live and work in the UK. Saint Lucians previously needed a 16 pound Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) to travel to the UK. \
There will be a six-week transition for ETA holders, its government said.
On Tuesday, Britain said it would block study visas for Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan and halt work visas for Afghans.
