Who is “Rosita”? The model and actress sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department for her connection to the Tren de Aragua gang.
The United States Treasury Department has just cut off access to the US financial system for Jimena Romina Araya Navarro , better known as Rosita.
This Venezuelan model, actress, and DJ, with millions of followers on social media, was sanctioned for her role in a money laundering network that operated in favor of the criminal group Tren de Aragua.
Authorities say she helped Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, alias Niño Guerrero, leader of the criminal organization, escape from Tocorón prison in 2012.
At the time, it was speculated that the two had a romantic relationship, although the exact details were never clear, reports The New York Post.
The history of “Rosita”
Rosita is no stranger to relationships with men linked to the Venezuelan criminal underworld. In 2012, she had a romance with Luidig Ochoa, creator of the adult animated series “Jail or Hell” and a former inmate of Venezuela’s Tocorón prison, who was murdered shortly afterward by a thief.
Years later she became involved with Carlos Galíndez, allegedly linked to drug trafficking gangs, whose dismembered body appeared on a road in Caracas in 2016.
According to information released by the New York Prosecutor’s Office, the convicted nephews of Cilia Flores, wife of Nicolás Maduro, shared photos of the corpse apparently to warn her of the danger she was in.
In addition to Rosita, the Treasury sanctioned her former bodyguard and representative, Eryk Manuel Landaeta Hernández, who managed a nightclub in Bogotá where events were organized that served to traffic drugs and launder money for the Tren de Aragua.
Landaeta was arrested in Colombia in October 2024. Rosita’s company, Global Import Solutions SA, was also included on the sanctions list, meaning that all of its assets and interests in the United States are blocked.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stressed that under the Trump administration, no terrorist cartel will be able to operate with impunity on U.S. soil.
