(The Center Square) – Members of the violent Venezuelan prison gang, Tren de Aragua (TdA), have expanded criminal operations to the Gulf states of Texas and Louisiana, as well as in the southeastern states of Georgia, Florida, North Carolina and Tennessee.
As the border crisis escalated, a record number of Venezuelans, more than one million, were reported illegally entering the U.S. under the Biden administration as TdA violence escalated nationwide and law enforcement officers made major arrests this year.
In North Carolina, law enforcement officers in Charlotte made one of the most consequential arrests of the year of a dangerous TdA lieutenant and fugitive wanted by Interpol on terrorism charges. He was briefly held in the Gaston County Jail and turned over to the U.S. Marshal Service.
The Venezuelan national illegally entered the U.S. in Eagle Pass, Texas, in June 2022, according to court records. Instead of being detained and processed for removal, he was released into the U.S. by Border Patrol agents. Six days later, he was arrested in Orlando, Florida, on domestic violence charges. By August 2023, he filed an asylum claim in West Texas, lied on his immigration form and received an employment authorization card, a criminal complaint filed in the Western District of Texas alleges.
It wasn’t until December 2023 that an Interpol alert was issued stating he was wanted by Venezuelan authorities for allegedly committing homicide, kidnapping, extortion, robbery, and drug, arms and human trafficking. Known as “La Fresa,” he evaded a Venezuelan operation, called “Cacique Guaicaipuro Liberation Operation” in which 11,000 soldiers, security forces and officials attempted to dismantle TdA operatives controlling the Tocorón Prison where TdA is headquartered, according to the alert.
His arrest warrant cites terrorism, financing terrorism, trafficking in arms and ammunition, aggravated extortion, and money laundering charges, saying he’s an “identified ranking member of Tren de Aragua, a threat to public safety with links to terrorism, gang affiliation, and violent criminal activity.”
The complaint also states that since early 2022, a record number of TdA members illegally entered the U.S. and Canada and engaged in trafficking of women and children for sexual exploitation, forced labor and other crimes in more than 15 states. TdA is involved in “documented homicides, alien trafficking, and grand theft” across state lines, it says.
In Louisiana, high-ranking TdA members involved in a multi-state sex trafficking ring were arrested and indicted on multiple felonies including sex trafficking by force, fraud, coercion and other charges. Arrests were made by East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office deputies who interviewed escaped trafficked women who said they were forced to have sex to pay off debt. An investigation found that dozens of women were being held in stash houses in Louisiana, Florida, New Jersey, Texas and Virginia as part of a TdA sex trafficking ring, WAFB News reported. Codefendants were identified as high-ranking TdA operatives responsible for smuggling illegal border crossers into the U.S. and forcing them into sex trafficking in several states, court records show.
In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott declared TdA a foreign terrorist organization and Texas Department of Public Safety launched a statewide operation to target them, including offering monetary rewards for information leading to their arrests, The Center Square reported.
Law enforcement officials in Dallas, El Paso, Houston, San Antonio and other areas are actively arresting and pursuing TdA members, coordinating with multiple agencies. Recent TdA arrests in Dallas are also connected to a multi-state ATM theft investigation in Colorado, New Mexico, Ohio, South Dakota and Wyoming, The Center Square reported.
Texas law enforcement officials have arrested more than 3,000 Venezuelan illegal border crossers; more than 200 are wanted, Abbott said earlier this year. It’s unclear how many are confirmed TdA.
In Georgia, nursing student Laken Riley was murdered by a Venezuelan illegally in the country; both he and his brothers were confirmed TdA members. The alleged killers and rapists of a 12-year-old Houston girl were also tied to TdA, according to several reports.
In Florida, law enforcement officers are working to dismantle TdA, arresting members on kidnapping, murder, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, grand theft and other charges, The Center Square reported. Border Patrol agents in Miami are also apprehending TdA members.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigations argues TdA is in every major city in the state. A recent TdA arrest in a Chattanooga sex trafficking sting was also connected to TdA criminal operations in Chicago, The Center Square reported.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti argues federal agents were knowingly releasing “murderers and rapists from its migrant detention facilities onto American streets,” The Center Square reported.
