The Mexican border state of Chihuahua is on heightened alert for members of the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) after reports they are passing through the state to cross into the United States near El Paso, Texas.
Chihuahua state Public Security Secretary Gilberto Loya warned on Monday that Mexican authorities have identified a large number of suspected members of the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) operating in the state and passing through to cross the US-Mexico border near El Paso, Latin Times reported.
The report comes after the Treasury Department sanctioned TdA as a transnational criminal organization in July, noting that the group engages in human trafficking, extortion, money laundering and narcotics trafficking and poses a “deadly criminal threat” across the Western Hemisphere.
Video shows armed gang members breaking into Colorado apartment believed to be occupied by immigrants
Texas State Guard troops patrol near the banks of the Rio Grande in El Paso, Texas, April 2, 2024. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
“Tren de Aragua uses a transnational trafficking network to traffic people, particularly migrant women and girls, across borders for sex trafficking and debt slavery,” the Treasury Department said in a statement at the time. “Tren de Aragua members often murder women and girls and publicize their deaths as a threat to others.”
US officials warned earlier this month that the gang, originally from Aragua, Venezuela, was infiltrating the US, while Republican Congressman Tony Gonzales of Texas described TdA as “MS-13 on steroids”.
“They're extremely aggressive. They're not a passive group, and they're not looking to go quietly,” Gonzalez told Fox News Digital in a phone interview earlier this month. “They come from Venezuela, one of the most war-torn countries in the last decade, so they're used to fighting in many ways, and they've come a long way from there to here. But they're also becoming more organized and more emboldened.”
Migrants attempt to cross the border at Piedras Negras-Eagle Pass in Piedras Negras, Mexico, on August 4, 2023. (Photo by David Peinado Romero/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) (David Peinado Romero/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
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Gang members are suspected to be involved in a recent video that showed men armed with handguns and rifles bursting through the door of an Aurora, Colorado apartment building, where residents say the apartment complex is rife with gang activity.
“This is an organized act. They don't even try to hide their guns, they patrol the property in plain sight. There is no retaliation. They are ghosts,” said one resident, who spoke to Fox News Digital on the condition of anonymity.
Another resident told Fox News Digital that the gang has been seen selling drugs from apartment buildings, while Aurora City Councilman Daniel Jurinski told Fox News Digital that “there's definitely sex trafficking going on right now” when it comes to TdA activity in the city.
Alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang took over an apartment in Aurora, Colorado, and demanded rent in exchange for security. (Edward Romero)
In Mexico, Loya said the group has been responsible for several murders in central Mexico and he hopes border states will get ahead of the problem.
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“Thanks to our cooperation with the United States, we have discovered that a large number of people belonging to the Tren de Aragua have passed through the state of Chihuahua,” Loya said in a translation provided by Border Report. “Seeing what is happening (in central Mexico), we want to be proactive here in Chihuahua.”
Neither the White House nor U.S. Customs and Border Protection immediately responded to Fox News Digital's requests for comment.
Get the latest updates on the ongoing border crisis from the Fox News Digital immigration hub.
