SANTIAGO, Chile (AFP) — A court in Chile on Monday sentenced 12 senior members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua criminal gang to lengthy prison terms for violations committed in the country.

The 12 suspects were found guilty of crimes including murder, kidnapping and human trafficking, and sentenced to a combined 300 years in prison.

Five of the members received life terms, with four eligible for parole after 20 years, while the fifth will only be eligible after 40 years.

Prosecutor Trinidad Steinert said the men — 11 Venezuelans and one with a Colombian identity card who is believed to also be from Venezuela — were “the leadership, those in charge of expansion” of the Tren de Aragua gang in Chile.

He welcomed the sentences as “exemplary”.

Chile has battled a rise in violent crime that saw its murder rate shoot from 2.32 murders per 100,000 inhabitants in 2012 to 6.0 in 2024, blamed partly on a growing presence of foreign gangs in the strategically positioned South American country.

Tren de Aragua is one such gang expanding its foothold in Chile as part of its spread across the continent, according to intelligence reports.

In February the Government of US President Donald Trump designated the gang a “terrorist” organisation.

This was the second mass sentencing of Tren de Aragua members in Chile as in March, 34 individuals were sent to prison for a combined 560 years.