Four members of the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua were recently apprehended. This comes amid President Donald Trump’s crackdown on the South American criminal organization that entered the country during the Biden Administration.
Referred to as TdA by law enforcement, the gang is notorious for infiltrating the United States under the guise of Venezuelan asylum seekers and establishing a presence in various American cities.
Upon entry, they have engaged in a range of criminal activities including assaults on law enforcement officers, homicides, sexual assaults, exploitation of minors, drug trafficking, and seizing control of residential complexes in municipalities such as Aurora, Colorado, and San Antonio, Texas.
DailyMail.com was the first news organization in the US to report on TdA arriving in America over a year ago, however, the gang became a household name after video of them storming an apartment near Denver surfaced in August.
The TdA arrests were made public by White House Press Secretary on social media as the Trump Administration boasted about its border crackdown in the first five days of his second term.
‘The Trump Administration arrested 538 illegal immigrant criminals including a suspected terrorist, four members of the Tren de Aragua gang, and several illegals convicted of sex crimes against minors,’ posted White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on X, formerly known as Twitter.
However, the arrests are far from the only action the Republican president has taken in this week to weaken the prison gang turned international crime ring.
On Day 1 back in the White House, Trump signed an executive order calling for the ‘total elimination’ of Tren de Aragua, which is now considered a terrorist group.
Federal immigration agents have been rounding up illegal immigrants across the nation this week, including in Boston, as pictured above. It’s unclear if the migrant arrested is a Tren de Aragua member
Under the presidential order, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has the green light to work with other federal agencies to take action on the TdA within 14 days.
During the Biden Administration, the South American syndicate was classified as a ‘transnational criminal organization’– which allowed the US government to seize property and interests connected to the gang in the US.
Biden also announced a $5,000,000 bounty for TdA’s kingpin, Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, also known as ‘Niño (the Kid) Guerrero.’
However, Trump has yet to order raids at Colorado apartment known to be a gang strong hold, Edge of Lowry.
As recently as December, the Aurora Police Department described the apartment units there as being infested with TdA gangsters, including one who dressed in drag to try to avoid being arrested after he helped torture fellow migrants.
However, the nationwide deportations taking place have made Denver-area law enforcement hopeful that TdA will finally be rooted out of their community.
‘Deportations are needed because they will just go down the street to another property,’ one cop told DailyMail.com, adding that simply evicting them from the Edge of Lowry won’t solve the problem.
Additionally, Trump has also put Venezuela’s dictator, Nicholas Maduro, on notice that the US may stop buying petroleum from the embattled country.
Maduro refused to accept that his lost the presidential election last year and has remained in power despite vast evidence that Edmundo González won.
They also appear to be cramming people into one-bedroom apartments, she added. At a different property, a maintenance worker said they believe TdA members are living there because he has seen Venezuelans walking around shamelessly showing off well-known Tren de Aragua tattoos
Niefred Jose Serpa-Acosta, 20, a known TdA member, presents himself to police with hands up and dressed as a woman. Officers encountered Serpa-Acosta on Dec. 16 after he took part in a vicious the kidnapping and torture of a Venezuelan couple
Two of the 19 individuals arrested during the Oct. 19 raid at the Palatia Apartments in San Antonio where authorities say Tren de Aragua had been operating
Tren de Aragua gang tattoos (pictured above) were part of a Department of Homeland Security bulletin that was recently shared with federal agents
‘It was a great country 20 years ago, and now it’s a mess,” Trump said shortly after taking the oath of office Monday.
‘We don’t have to buy their oil. We have plenty of oil for ourselves.’
Oil is Venezuela’s lifeline, 222,000 bpd last year to the US– making America its second largest customer behind China.
TdA has long been known to be henchmen for Madura, who emptied his countries prisons in the last few years– sending Venezuela’s worst criminals to the US.
