A Venezuelan national suspected of being a member of the Tren de Aragua gang has been arrested in President-elect Trump’s backyard of Palm Beach, Florida, according to a senior U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) official.
Jeffrey Dinise, the chief patrol agent of the USBP Miami Sector, announced the arrest in a social media post on Tuesday.
“U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested a Venezuelan national who was identified as a Tren de Aragua gang member,” Dinise wrote on X. “He has a criminal record for assault w/ a deadly weapon. Our agents continue to keep our communities safe.”
This image from social media video shows suspected juvenile Tren de Aragua members based out of the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City who have reportedly been targeting nearby Times Square in a string of robberies. (Obtained by New York Post)
And now, according to a New York Post report, the gang is operating in an area that includes half of America’s population.
In addition to New York City, Colorado and Texas, the gang has a foothold in California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Tennessee and Wisconsin, and most recently in Washington, D.C., Virginia, Montana and Wyoming, according to the report that cites a Homeland Security memo.
The Homeland Security memo, titled “Expansion of Tren de Aragua (TdA) Across the United States Presents Challenges for Law Enforcement,” states that the gang has increased its “violent tendencies” as it spreads, according to the report.
Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Heckman and Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
