At least 87 members of the Venezuelan terrorist organization Tren de Aragua (TdA) have been indicted for allegedly stealing millions of dollars from ATMs around the country, a crime known as “ATM jackpotting.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nebraska announced 31 new defendants on Monday, joining 56 others previously charged in a large Homeland Security Task Force operation.
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According to U.S. Attorney Lesley A. Woods for the District of Nebraska, the criminal ring, which was primarily made up of Venezuelan and Colombian nationals as well as TdA members, used the stolen funds to fuel terrorist activity such as human trafficking, child sex trafficking, kidnapping, murder, and “other unspeakably evil and violent acts.”
“Tren de Aragua is a complex terrorist organization that commits serious financial crimes in addition to horrific rapes, murders, and drug trafficking,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement.
“This Department of Justice has already prosecuted more than 290 members of Tren de Aragua and will continue working tirelessly to put these vicious terrorists behind bars after the prior administration let them infiltrate our country,” she added.
The indictment filed in January alleges 32 counts of bank fraud, bank burglary, computer fraud, and computer damage.
According to the Justice Department, members allegedly hacked into ATMs and forced them to discharge cash by using a malware variant called Ploutus, which was designed to erase evidence of its presence in order to conceal the crime.
Officials said they went to targeted banks and credit unions to inspect ATMs and take note of any external security features. The groups would then open the hoods or doors of the equipment and wait to see if an alarm or law enforcement reaction had been activated. Once clear, the groups implanted malware by removing the hard disk and installing the software directly, replacing the hard drive with one preloaded with Ploutus, or deploying the virus via an external device, such as a thumb drive.
The update follows two similar indictments issued last year in December and October. The 87 people implicated face a variety of federal charges, including material support for a designated foreign terrorist organization, bank burglary, bank fraud, money laundering, damage and unauthorized access to protected computers, and conspiracy to commit the same crimes.
