WASHINGTON

The US on Wednesday announced a reward increase of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Giovanni Vicente Mosquera Serrano, an alleged leader of the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

Mosquera Serrano, who is also on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List, oversees the gang’s global drug trafficking and financial operations, the agency claimed in a statement.

Separately, the Treasury Department announced new sanctions on Wednesday targeting key affiliates of Tren de Aragua for money laundering.

The news came after the Trump administration late last month formally designated the Venezuela-based Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist organization.

The Venezuelan government slammed the move as a "ridiculous" plan to designate a "nonexistent" cartel as a terrorist group.

For months the US has been expanding military operations across Latin America, deploying Marines, warships, fighter and bomber jets, submarines, and drones amid speculation that it could launch an attack on Venezuela, which it accuses of sending drugs and “criminals” to its shores.

Venezuelan leaders have called the drug trafficking claims a pretext for forcing regime change.