Former CIA officer Gary Berntsen, one of the most highly decorated intelligence veterans in recent U.S. history, has come forward to confirm that the Venezuelan criminal gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) has been deliberately deployed into the United States by the Venezuelan regime, with the express intent of destabilizing the country through sabotage and violence.
According to Berntsen, Tren de Aragua is no longer just a violent street gang. While they may wear the face of criminality, their core leadership and operational cells have undergone paramilitary training under the guidance of Venezuelan intelligence and military officials, aided in part by Cuban intelligence operatives and narco-terrorist networks throughout Latin America.
Quoting Berntsen, Miami Herald journalist Antonio Delgado wrote:
“The Venezuelan regime has assumed operational control of these guys [Tren de Aragua] and has trained 300 of them; they have given them paramilitary training, training them to fire weapons and how to conduct sabotage. They have given them all like a four- to six-week course. They put these 300 guys through that course, and then they were deploying them into the United States to 20 separate states.”
Berntsen explained that sabotage includes acts such as arson, and that recent patterns of mysterious industrial fires, wildfires, and urban blazes—notably in Los Angeles and other key areas—could plausibly be linked to these foreign-trained operatives.
“Many of these wildfires, industrial fires, the Los Angeles fires, taking advantage of wind and the local conditions, were started by arsonists. How many of them were paid or coerced by TdA or their surrogates?” Berntsen asked.
Even more disturbing than the operation itself is the claim that elements within the CIA have deliberately ignored or buried this intelligence. Berntsen revealed that two current CIA officials recently leaked false information to The New York Times, claiming there is no intelligence connecting Tren de Aragua to the Venezuelan government.
But Berntsen says otherwise—and he has proof.
“The CIA doesn’t have the information because they refused to look at it,” Berntsen said. “We tried to brief them about this three years ago, but they were directed by the Biden Administration to ignore it. And now those officials are trying to undermine President Trump.”
According to Berntsen, he has already shared intelligence and source material with “elements of the U.S. government,” showing deep and sustained relationships between Tren de Aragua, Venezuelan and Cuban intelligence services, and high-level narcoterrorist operations.