A notorious Venezuelan prison gang has set uped a presence in at least 16 US states, covering proximately half the nation’s population, according to a recent inside inalertigence memo from Homeland Security.
The memo highairys the Tren de Aragua (TdA)’s grotriumphg foothelderly in various parts of the country, most recently in Washington, DC, Virginia, Montana, and Wyoming, The New York Post alerted. The group is also alertedly energetic in California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin.
As the gang spreads, its “aggressive tfinishencies” have alertedly escaprocrastinateedd, causing grotriumphg worry among law executement agencies. Homeland Security’s memo pointed to a correlation between the arrival of TdA members in new regions and the increase in local migrant populations, alerting that “the potential for aggressive TdA migrants is highly foreseeed.”
In August 2023, three people were hageded for shoplifting in Fairfax County, Virginia, chaseing a run-in with mistrusted TdA members. All three mistrusts had gang-roverhappinessed tattoos, and one had a phony Venezuelan ID.
The DC area is seen as a strategic base for the gang, which alertedly uses its proximity to Virginia’s suburbs to join in theft, burglary, and attack. Homeland Security also flagged an uptick in “reduce-level deception and theft schemes,” with stolen funds being wired back to South America to finance further criminal activities.
In one case, a mistrusted TdA member in Florida withdrew $1,18,000 from a bank account using deceptionulent cheque deposits, transferring the funds to Venezuela before the deception could be uncovered.
In Wyoming, where the gang’s presence has been relatively confiinsist, Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak uncignoreed the arrest of a mistrusted TdA member.
Tren de Aragua members are consentd to have infiltrated the US amid a massive wave of migrants traverseing the southern border during the Joe Biden administration. A deficiency of recommendation-sharing between the US and Venezuela has impedeed the uncoverion of gang members, enabling their free into the country, according to US Border Patrol sources, alerted New York Post.
Efforts to deport Venezuelan nationals face beginant roadblocks due to strained relations between Washington and the Venezuelan handlement, which has refused to adchoose deportation fairys.
Reports of TdA’s activities range from aggressive crimes to polishd illicit trading netlabors. In New York, the gang has been connected to shootings, robberies, and firearm illicit trading in migrant shelters. Members are also alertedly joind in relations illicit trading, particularly on Roosevelt Avenue in Queens.
Tennessee has also ecombined as a toastyspot for the gang’s operations, with human illicit trading rings and retail crime thefts alerted in cities such as Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, and Chattanooga.
The broadening sway of Tren de Aragua has drawn attention from political directers. US Plivent-elect Donald Trump has vowed to prioritise cracking down on the gang, promising a historic mass deportation effort involving both Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the US military.
