(The Center Square) – A violent Venezuelan prison gang, Tren de Aragua (TdA), has expanded its criminal operations into Florida, according to multiple reports.
As the border crisis escalated, a record number of illegal border crossers from Venezuela were released into the U.S. by the Biden administration and TdA violence expanded nationwide, including in Florida.
Tren de Aragua gang members are known for violence, murder, kidnapping, extortion, bribery and human and drug trafficking and are linked to more than 100 law enforcement investigations nationwide.
Last November, a retired Venezuelan police officer living in Doral, Florida, was targeted and allegedly murdered after he was lured to a hotel near the Miami International Airport. He was allegedly ambushed in the parking lot, kidnapped, robbed and murdered; his apartment was also burglarized, according to police reports. One alleged murderer and TdA member is believed to be connected to criminal investigations involving other hotels, Local 10 News reported.
In January, one of the culprits, a 23-year-old male TdA member, was charged with first-degree murder, armed home invasion, carjacking and kidnapping. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement placed a detainer request with a Miami-Dade corrections facility where he was being held without bond.
In March, a 19-year-old male TdA member in the country illegally was arrested for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, ABC 12 News reported. He was booked into Palm Beach County Jail where he was released less than 14 hours later on a $7,500 bond. This month, Border Patrol agents arrested him, Border Patrol’s Miami Sector chief announced.
In November, a 20-year-old male and confirmed TdA member who was illegally in the country was arrested at the Dolphin Mall in Sweetwater. He was charged with grand theft, battery on an officer and resisting an officer. ICE placed a detainer request on him after previously releasing him into the country with an ankle monitor. The TdA member was last known to have had the ankle monitor on in Chicago, where it was taken off, police said, NBC 6 News South Florida reported. From Chicago, he made his way to the Miami suburb where he was reported to a police officer for threatening to beat up a man at the mall.
Expressing alarm about increased TdA crime, state Rep. Berny Jacques, R-Clearwater, asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement what steps the state was taking to address increasing TdA threats and what state lawmakers can do to support their efforts.
“As threats from transnational gangs like Tren de Aragua continue to grow, I am increasingly concerned about the implications of the Biden-Harris administration’s open-border policies,” Jacques wrote to Mark Glass, the commissioner of the FDLE. “From the start, this administration has dismantled border security and interior enforcement, signaling to criminal cartels and gangs that they can exploit our nation with impunity. We are now seeing the devastating results as violent groups destabilize communities in border and non border states alike, and it is essential that Florida proactively address this threat.”
In a letter this month, Glass outlined state law enforcement efforts including partnerships with federal and local law enforcement partners to address TdA crime.
The FDLE’s Office of Statewide Intelligence has been partnering with investigators at the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations and others at regional fusion centers, monitoring alleged TdA activity since early this year.
“Our inspectors and analysts conduct extensive research on suspected encounters, origins of the gang, suspected allied cartels and affiliates, indicators of membership, and the culture of the gang, which included the non-criminal activities gang members commit,” he explained.
OSI has provided an in-depth briefing to FDLE leadership and developed multiple intelligence bulletins to state and local law enforcement partners about TdA. Each FDLE regional operation’s center also has assigned investigators pursuing TdA-connected criminal activity.
“Organized crime will continue to be a central focus area of our investigative strategy. As we collaborate with our criminal justice partners to identify and dismantle these gangs, FDLE will keep state leaders informed of any policy measures that would enhance law enforcement’s ability to counter the threats presented by transactional games like TdA,” Glass said.
In Texas, which has borne the brunt of illegal border crosser crimes, law enforcement officials have arrested more than 3,000 Venezuelan illegal border crossers; more than 200 are wanted, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said earlier this year when he designated TdA as a foreign terrorist organization.
In Texas, anti-gang centers already have ongoing criminal enterprise investigations against TdA. The Texas Department of Public Safety launched a statewide operation to target them, is developing a database to track them, and launched a reward program offering up to $5,000 for information leading to their arrests, The Center Square reported.
