(The Center Square) – As crime expands in at least 22 states by confirmed Venezuelan Tren de Aragua prison gang members, Texas law enforcement officers continue to apprehend them.
After a record number of more than one million Venezuelans illegally entered the country under the Biden administration, non-TdA members also continue to be arrested for violent crimes in Texas.
The latest TdA arrests were by Operation Lone Star officers on Dec. 31 in Maverick County near Eagle Pass, Texas.
They were among a group that illegally entered the country between ports of entry from Venezuela, Colombia and Mexico. Texas Department of Public Safety troopers arrested 11 illegal border crossers for criminal trespass who were jailed for state criminal charges, DPS Lt. Chris Olivarez said.
Among them were nine Venezuelans claiming they were heading to San Antonio, and Irving and Corsicana, outside of Dallas. Texas DPS special agents interviewed them and searched them for identifying gang tattoos, suspecting four were TdA members. After receiving consent to search their phones, the agents accessed their social media apps and confirmed they were TdA members. Of the four, one has tattoos on his shoulders indicating he may hold a leadership role. The TdA members are all men ages 18 to 39: Antonio Joe Urruttia-Rojas, 18; Levi Jesus Urrutia-Blanco, 18; Pedro Luis Salazar-Cuervo, 27; and Segundo Ocando-Mejia, 39.
“TdA remains an existential threat to public safety and the state of Texas is utilizing every resource to track down & arrest TdA members,” Olivarez said. “If not for Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star’s border mission, the support from the Texas legislature and most importantly, the dedicated work by our DPS personnel, these four TdA members would have potentially made it to their final destination in Texas.
“DPS will prioritize the safety of fellow Texans and the nation in identifying public safety and national security threats.”
In response, Gov. Greg Abbott issued a statement praising the work of OLS and arresting the TdA members. In September, Abbott designated TdA as a foreign terrorist organization.
“We will not tolerate this gang operating or gaining a foothold in Texas,” Abbott said. “Until President Trump is back in the White House to secure our border, Texas will continue to hunt down dangerous criminals like TdA and put them behind bars to protect Texans from this vicious gang.”
TdA members are known for brutal violence, murder, kidnapping, extortion, bribery and human and drug trafficking and are linked to more than 100 law enforcement investigations nationwide, The Center Square reported. The U.S. Department of State has designated TdA, which began in the Tocorón Prison in Aragua, Venezuela, as a transnational criminal organization. It’s offering up to $12 million in rewards for information leading to the arrests and/or convictions of its leaders who are believed to be in Columbia and Venezuela.
Abbott also launched a statewide initiative to target TdA members and DPS is offering rewards of up to $5,000 for information leading to the identification and arrest of TdA members, The Center Square reported.
As law enforcement officers continue to arrest TdA members statewide, they are also arresting violent Venezuelan nationals who aren’t members of the violent prison gang.
In November, emergency personnel responded to a house fire in the Polo Ranch Community in Fort Bend County, located roughly 40 minutes southwest of Houston. Fulshear Police officers arrested and charged a Venezuelan national, Pedro Luis Parra Pulgar, illegally in the country, for intentionally starting the fire with his three children inside. He was arrested and charged on three counts of attempted murder and arson and intentional damage to a habitat.
“The fire caused significant damage to the home and sparked a swift response from Fulshear Police officers and first responders,” Fulshear Police Department said in a statement. “Two children managed to escape the flames with minor injuries, but a three-year-old remained trapped inside. Officers, hearing faint sounds from within the home, quickly entered through a bedroom window and rescued the child, who was suffering from severe smoke inhalation. The child was airlifted to a nearby hospital, received treatment, and has since been released.”
Parra Pulgar sustained extensive injuries and was treated in a hospital. After he was released on Dec. 12, he was transported to and booked into Fort Bend County Jail. He is being held on a $2.25 million bond and also has a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer, according to jail records.
Texas law enforcement officials have arrested more than 3,000 Venezuelan illegal border crossers during the Biden administration; more than 200 are wanted, according to the governor’s office.
