United States Drug Enforcement Administration

A 24-year-old Venezuelan national is set to make his initial appearance in Houston federal court for providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization and significant drug trafficking offenses.

Jose Enrique Martinez Flores also known as “Chuqui,” 24, is alleged to be a high-ranking leader of the designated foreign terrorist organization Tren de Aragua (TdA) in Bogota, Colombia, and is part of the inner circle of senior TdA leadership.

Colombian authorities arrested Flores in Colombia on March 31, 2025, pursuant to a provisional arrest warrant the United States had requested. He arrived in Houston ahead of his initial appearance on Friday, May 15 at 10 a.m. in the Southern District of Texas.

According to the allegations, Flores is charged with one count of conspiring to provide material support to TdA in the form of personnel (including himself) and services and one count of providing material support to TdA. The indictment also alleges international drug distribution conspiracy based on his involvement in the distribution of five kilograms of cocaine or more in Colombia intended for distribution in the United States. The charges allege the proceeds were used to further TdA’s criminal goals.

As a TdA leader, Flores allegedly oversaw criminal activities in Colombia such as drug trafficking, extortion, prostitution, and murder.

A federal grand jury in Houston returned a second superseding indictment Dec. 16, 2025, which also charges three other TdA leaders - Yohan Jose Romero also known as "Johan Petrica," 48, Juan Gabriel Rivas Nunez also known as "Juancho," 45, and Giovanni Vicente Mosquera Serrano also known as "El Viejo," 38, for conspiring to provide and providing material support to TdA. Mosquera Serrano is also named in the conspiracy and distribution of cocaine charges along with Flores.

The Department of State designated TdA as a foreign terrorist organization and Specially Designated Global Terrorist on Feb. 20, 2025.

If convicted, Flores faces a maximum penalty of life in prison and a $10 million fine.

The Department of State’s Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program is offering a reward of up to $4 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Jose Romero and up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Mosquera Serrano.

This case is part of the HSTF initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of U.S. law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Houston comprises agents and officers from FBI; DEA; Texas Department of Public Safety; Houston Police Department; Harris County Sheriff's Office; ATF; USMS; U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Department of Transportation and IRS Criminal Investigation with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas leading the prosecution.

Colombian National Police (Policía Nacional de Colombia) and the Colombian Attorney General’s Office (Fiscalía General de la Nación), Justice Department’s Office of the Judicial Attaché in Bogotá, Colombia, and Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance in securing the provisional arrest and extradition of Flores to the United States.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.