The Treasury Department is dropping the hammer on a Tren de Aragua (TdA) $40-plus million fraud scheme accused of using U.S. automated teller machines as a narco-terror piggybank, stealing Americans' cash to fund its transnational terror network.
Treasury, in a First on Fox exclusive Wednesday, unleashed a whole-of-government crackdown, targeting the financial network of the violent foreign terrorist organization (FTO) TdA over a massive, high-tech ATM "jackpotting" scheme that has siphoned millions from American banks.
"President Trump’s administration will not allow terrorist organizations like Tren de Aragua to exploit the U.S. financial system or enrich themselves through theft and other criminal activity targeting American individuals and businesses," Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent wrote in a statement.
"Working alongside our law enforcement partners, we will continue to use all tools available to deny these terrorist financial facilitators the resources they need to operate, weakening their overall criminal enterprise and protecting the integrity of the U.S. economy."
Federal data shows that reported losses from U.S. ATM jackpotting attacks totaled $40.73 million across more than 1,500 incidents through August 2025. The illicit proceeds are routinely laundered through complex cryptocurrency networks and funneled back to TdA leadership.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated 10 key targets tied to the criminal network, which relies heavily on custom malware to force automated teller machines across the United States to dispense cash on command.
According to Treasury officials, the sprawling cyberfraud operation has fueled a broader violent enterprise — spanning drug trafficking, human smuggling, and murder-for-hire — making the destruction of TdA's financial infrastructure a top national security priority.
At the center of the targeted network is an FBI Top Ten Most Wanted fugitive: Anibal Alexander Canelon Aguirre, widely known by the alias "Prometheus." Operating out of Mexico and Venezuela, Prometheus is accused of engineering the malicious software used to bypass physical and digital ATM security systems. Once deployed by criminal crews, the malware forces victim machines to empty their cash vaults until they run dry.
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