A Venezuelan national, Luis Ernesto Veliz Riera, suspected to be a member of the Tren de Aragua gang, has been charged in Miami with illegal possession of a firearm. The charges come after Veliz Riera entered the United States in 2023 using the now-disabled Customs and Border Protection One Application.
Veliz Riera appeared before a magistrate judge in the Southern District of Florida. According to an unsealed criminal complaint affidavit, he crossed into the U.S. at the Mexico-El Paso border in February 2023 by booking an appointment online through CBP's system. This application allowed undocumented aliens to schedule appointments at various U.S. border ports until it was shut down on January 20, 2025.
Upon entry, Veliz Riera received a Notice to Appear for an immigration hearing in Las Vegas but did not attend. Instead, he remained in El Paso waiting for his girlfriend's illegal entry from Mexico into the U.S., after which they traveled through several cities before settling in Homestead, Florida.
In October 2024, during an investigation into possible Tren de Aragua activities, law enforcement stopped Veliz Riera's vehicle and discovered he had an open state crime warrant and was illegally present in the country. Further investigations revealed that he kept a loaded Taurus PT609 Pro 9mm handgun with him.
Following his arrest on state charges on October 17, 2024, Veliz Riera went into immigration detention but was later released under electronic monitoring. However, on February 3, 2025, Homeland Security Investigations and Immigration and Customs Enforcement re-arrested him to reassess his release decision.
Federal prosecutors formally charged Veliz Riera on February 14 with one count of possessing a firearm as an illegal alien under Title 18 of the United States Code. During his federal court appearance today, he agreed to remain in custody pending trial.
The announcement came from United States Attorney Hayden P. O’Byrne for the Southern District of Florida and Acting Special Agent Jose R. Figueroa from Homeland Security Investigations' Miami Field Office.
HSI-Miami’s Fort Lauderdale office is leading the investigation with assistance from various local police departments and federal agencies including ATF Miami and FBI Miami. Assistant United States Attorney Kseniya Smychkouskaya is prosecuting this case.
Authorities emphasize that a criminal complaint is merely an allegation; all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt in court.
Court documents related to this case can be accessed via www.flsd.uscourts.gov or http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case number 25-mj-02303.