Terrifying map reveals how bloodthirsty Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua has infiltrated America

Terrifying new research has laid bare how notorious Venezuelan super gang Tren de Aragua's criminal tentacles have spread across America.

Members of the violent migrant gang TdA have crept into the US hidden among the one million Venezuelan migrants who have entered the country during the Biden administration.   

Arrest data shared with DailyMail.com has now revealed that the tattooed gangsters are operating in even more US cities than originally feared - with San Antonio, Texas, the latest hub of activity. 

Dubbed the 'epitome of evil' and 'MS-13 on steroids', police investigations showed that the mob is behind a spiraling crime wave across the US, with members accused of murders, violent assaults on cops and sex trafficking women.

'MS-13, they were never organized; Tren de Aragua is a transnational criminal organization from the bottom to the top,' Colorado's former ICE director John Fabbricatore told DailyMail.com.

'These guys right here [in the US] - they're sending money back to leaders in Venezuela. They're set up shop like a corporation - it is the like the mafia. What it took MS-13 to do in like a ten-year period, Tren de Aragua has been able to do in less than a year,' he added.

El Paso, Texas

Texas' largest city to straddle the US-Mexico border has been called the epicenter for TdA activity by state law enforcement officials. 

As DailyMail.com exclusively reported, El Paso's Mexican sister city, Juarez, is the gang's new headquarters. 

From its base on America's doorstep, gang members move back and forth between the US and Mexico, federal sources tell DailyMail.com. 

'That's why El Paso is kind of the center of gravity. El Paso...is really ground zero,' DPS Director Steve McCraw revealed at a September 16 news conference during which Lone Star State officials declared war on the South American syndicate.

'Because (TdA) continues to support the Juarez-related gangs involved in the smuggling of people across the border, and they combat with us. We deal with them daily in that regard,' he added.

Texas' sixth largest city, the busiest border crossing for most of 2022 and 2023, has also been used as the entry point for many TdA members. 

In March, a rare riot on the border was orchestrated by TdA, in which a migrant mob overwhelmed Texas National Guard members, kicking and overpowering armed soldiers at a border crossing in El Paso, the governor of Texas said.

It is unclear how many TdA members have been stopped in West Texas specifically, but the US Border Patrol has prevented 64 confirmed gangsters from entering the country since March 2023.

However, other federal agencies continue to take TdA members off the streets - such as the October 11 arrest of a Venezuelan man wanted for murder by Homeland Security Investigations. 

While many migrants, including TdA, simply use El Paso as entry point and leave, others have stayed and even helped take control of the Gateway Hotel - a low budget place many of its guests use as a place to live. 

Officials in El Paso shut down the motel in downtown after they said it became a crime den controlled by Venezuelan clan, with police responding to the property nearly 700 times in the last two years.

Scenes of drug use, violence and sexual activity within view of children occurred on a regular basis, according to a lawsuit by the county attorney.

While some of the crimes dated back two years, the lawsuit alleged the situation had deteriorated following the 'introduction of the Tren de Aragua organization into the hotel.'

Estefania Primera, 37, was recently arrested on charges of human trafficking after being accused of drugging another migrant woman who lived at the hotel and forcing her into sex, according to a Texas Department of Public Safety criminal affidavit obtained by DailyMail.com.

The victim allegedly turned down Primera when she was approached about earning money for having sex. But Primera is then accused of forcing a fentanyl-laced pill down the victim's throat to knock her out. The victim allegedly then woke up naked on multiple occasions with injuries, legal documents stated.

Known as 'La Barbie,' Primera has posted TikTok videos showing her strolling the streets of downtown El Paso near the hotel while scantily dressed.

She appeared to make no bones about her affiliation with the criminal organization on social media, calling herself an 'hija de Dios' or 'child of God - a phrase TdA often uses to refer to themselves. They will also frequently tattoo the initials 'H' and 'J' on their bodies, sometimes accompanied by a crown. 

Aurora, Colorado

Most of the nation first learned about Tren de Aragua when a video of armed men storming an apartment building in Aurora, Colorado, surfaced in late August.

While local leaders initially denied there was a gang problem in the Denver suburb, they later admitted the international crime ring had taken control of additional apartment complexes in the area. 

DailyMail.com obtained city records where staffers admitted that three rental properties 'are in complete control' of Tren de Aragua (TdA) and claimed that many more than just three properties are victims of the 'criminal infestation.'

The property manger of the three properties (Aspen Grove Apartments, the Edge of Lowry and Whispering Pines) was told by the gangsters not to go back or his life would be in danger.

The mobsters were known to be armed with deadly weapons, including assault rifles and knifes.

A report by a law firm detailed the chaos at the apartments, including beatings that almost killed victims, shootings, drug sales and child prostitution.

The crime report was complied before the video of TdA surfaced on August 28 that showing the gun-toting gangsters storming units at the Edge of Lowry apartments.

As outrage over the images spread across the country, Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman denied the town had a gang problem in media interviews.

By September, Coffman acknowledged Tren de Aragua was in the city limits, but continued to claim their presence was isolated to just those three apartments.

However, a July 3 letter to the city manager obtained by DailyMail.com detailed a meeting between the Aurora Police Department, the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations or HSI to discuss the gang problem at the three properties owned by CBZ Management.

'In that meeting, it was disclosed that our situation is not an isolated event, but numerous other multi-family projects in the City of Aurora and throughout the State of Colorado are subject to the same gang control,' disclosed CBZ management's attorney.

A special regional task force between Aurora cops, Colorado State Patrol and Colorado Bureau of Investigation was created on August 19 to take the cartel down.

The task force has continued to take TdA gangsters into custody.

San Antonio, Texas

TdA has been caught replicating its Aurora criminal model San Antonio, Texas.

Law enforcement sources confirmed TdA had been operating at the Palatia Apartments for five to six months, squatting in empty units they either rented out to other migrants, used as a base to deal cocaine or, most horrifically, as prostitution dens to pimp out women and children.

However, DailyMail.com can reveal that this apartment invasion is just the tip of the iceberg, with at least three additional rental properties also occupied by the criminal organization.

DailyMail.com is not naming the three other apartment complexes to avoid jeopardizing ongoing police investigations. 

In a pre-dawn operation, hundreds of law enforcement officers closed in on the sprawling Palatia Apartments in the early hours of October 5 after spending weeks investigating reports that Tren de Aragua had control of the area. 

After searching over 300 units, cops arrested 19 individuals - four of which have been confirmed as gang members.

'One TdA member is a confirmed "enforcer" for that gang,' and 15 were in the country illegally,' the city's top cop William McManus said.

Mobsters, who brazenly showed off gang tattoos or wore red clothing, were squatting in empty units where they sold drugs or humans, he added.

'They had women and children and were prostituting the women and the children,' one resident told DailyMail.com.

'There was a lot of them and watching all the women and children being put into a paddy wagon, I was like, "Aah!"'

TdA had also threatened apartment property staffers who discovered their criminal schemes.

Local police have promised more arrests. 

'You just don't want any of these people in your community and you just don't hope and wish they'd go away. You have to actively make them go away,' local Congressman Tony Gonzales said.

New York, New York

The gang's exploits in the Big Apple have garnered much media attention, with two TdA mobsters charged over beating New York City police officers earlier this year. 

Back on January 27, two NYPD cops approached a group of migrants who were blocking the sidewalk in Times Square.

When officers tired to arrest one of the Venezuelan men, the confrontation turned violent with migrants kicking and hitting them. 

It turned out that Kelvin Servita Arocha and Wilson Juarez, two of the six men involved, were TdA members, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials who confirmed their criminal affiliation to several media outlets. 

The gang has been found to have taken part in cell phone thefts on mopeds, participated in thefts at stores, and have sold a pink, powdery drug known as Tusi, according to the New York Times. 

As of September, the police had officially identified 24 Tren de Aragua members in the five boroughs, with the department explaining individuals had to self-identify as being part of the criminal network in order to be counted.

'Do we think that there's only 24 TDA members in New York City? That would be silly,' Chief Joseph Kenny told the publication. 'Obviously there are more.'

Just days ago, NYPD warned of the gang's growing power in Gotham.

'Right now what we have, I like to call a "perfect storm" of sorts. We have individuals, tremendously brazen, absolutely ruthless individuals that have committed a multitude of crimes with basically no repercussions,' NYPD Assistant Chief Jason Savino of the detective bureau told Fox 5. 

'What started out as a robbery crew...20 individuals arrested for upwards of 50 robberies. Out of those 20 individuals, every single one of them is on the streets today.'

Savino went on to explain how the notoriously clever and adaptable crime ring is recruiting kids to do their dirty work because minors face little or no legal consequences if caught.

'This is the first time we've seen structure with Tren de Aragua. Formally it was kind of scattered, all over the place, but now, we're seeing that structure....where people are recruiting these younger members, as young as 11, and they've been described as these robbery incidents as young as eight years old,' Savino added.

TdA is operating mostly in Times Square with a splinter group called 'Los Diablos de la 42' (or the devils of 42nd Street in Spanish) setting up shop on 42nd Street.

'That Times Square is a draw,' Savino stated. 'You have to remember, that's the gem of the city. You know, when you can post up in Times Square, that's the crème de la crème.'

Samford, Connecticut

A motel murder has been pinned on TdA in a wealthy enclave of Connecticut that's considered a New York City suburb. 

Gregory Marlyn Galindez-Trias, 24, and Moises Alejandro Condollo-Urbaneja, 22, have been accused of shooting Angel Samaniego, 59, at a Super 8 Hotel before fleeing the state, reported Fox News.

Investigators arrested them at a train station in New York State where they were traveling with their two children aged three and one.

'Our investigation revealed both parties are in this country illegally from Venezuela,' Rensselaer Police Chief Warren Famiglietti told the network. 

'Both parties are believed to be affiliated with Tren de Aragua, a transnational criminal organization from Venezuela.'

Athens, Georgia 

The man accused of killing a Georgia nursing college student has also been linked to the criminal enterprise TdA. 

Jose Ibarra, 26, is charged in the death of the Laken Riley, 22, who was beaten to death while out running on the University of Georgia campus in February.

The indictment claimed Ibarra inflicted blunt-force trauma to her head and 'asphyxiated her in a manner unknown to jurors.'

It also stated that Ibarra 'seriously disfigured her head by striking her head multiple times with a rock.'

Ibarra's brother, Diego, 29, is also suspected of being a TdA member and while he is not charged in Riley's death, he is accused of green card fraud which he allegedly used to get a job in Athens.

Ibarra pleaded not guilty to charges related to Riley, including murder and kidnapping. 

It is unclear if TdA is active in other parts of the Peach State but officials are concerned.

'We know they’re here in the state of Georgia,' Ken Howard, who is on the state's Bureau of Investigation’s gang task force, told InSightCrime.com. 

'But as far as building out an intelligence database on the group that's well documented and identified, I wouldn’t say we’re there yet.'

Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin 

Unexpectedly, TdA has also popped up in the northern state of Wisconsin, where police said they are 'confident' a gang member beat and sexually assaulted a woman in September.

Alejandro Jose Coronel Zarate, 26 of Venezuela, found his way to the small town of Prairie du Chien, about two hours outside of Madison, Wisconsin, when he went to spend time with the woman he later assaulted.

Coronel Zarate also had warrants through Dane County for strangulation/suffocation, false imprisonment, battery, and disorderly conduct, according to investigators.

'Based on our investigation, we can confirm that Mr. Coronel Zarate entered the United States in September of 2023 at or near the El Paso, TX point of entry,' the cops said.

'Since that time, he has been arrested in Minneapolis, MN on November 17, 2023, for receiving stolen property. He was charged with Strangulation/Suffocation, False Imprisonment, Battery, and Disorderly Conduct in Dane County, WI on December 1, 2023.'

While police cautioned that he was the only known TdA member in their town, they warned that they couldn't promise that would always be the case. 

'We live in a mobile society. People visit our community every day. We can’t possibly know everyone that arrives here and their intentions,' Police Chief Kyle Teynor stated.

Chicago, Illinois

Venezuela's most infamous export has been operating in Chicago since October 2023, according to NewsNation.

Described as a 'new threat developing amongst the newly arriving immigrant community,' the professional criminals have followed the thousands of law-abiding Venezuelans who have made the Windy City their final destination.

TdA is known to hide among its own law-abiding, asylum-seeking countrymen - not just to blend in, but to also exploit their own people.

The mob transformed from a prison gang to an international criminal ring by smuggling desperate citizens out of the country as they fled communist dictator Nicolás Maduro - profiting from a legitimate humanitarian crisis.

Since 2014, nearly eight million Venezuelans have left their homeland, according to the United Nations. Many went to neighboring South American countries where TdA followed. Now the same thing is happening in the US.

With the fear and power they hold over their own people, TdA is able to extort other migrants for money, force Venezuelan women into prostitution and try to get away with the same tricks they ran in their own country. 

The midwestern city also has a special connection with the gang, as its inductees are known to bare Michael Jordan tattoos - including his 23 jersey number - and gravitate towards Chicago Bulls paraphernalia.  

Miami, Florida

In South Florida, two Venezuelan migrants who police believe have TdA allegiance are accused of killing a former Venezuelan police officer in a Miami surbub.

Authorities claimed Yurwin Salazar and Julio César Hernández Montero lured victim Jose Luis Sanchez-Valera, 43, to a hotel where he met with a woman last November. 

Surveillance video showed Sanchez-Valera left the hotel. But then three men were seen following him in another car before forcing him from the driver's seat and into the back seat of his SUV.

The next day, Sanchez-Valera's blood-splattered SUV was found on the side of the road. 

Both Salazar and Hernández Montero are facing first-degree murder charges.

Other Texas cities

In Dallas, a violent home invasion has been linked to TdA where a woman was pistol-whipped and threatened with having her fingers cut off if she didn't show armed goons where her valuables were stashed. 

Manuel Hernandez-Hernandez, 28, is one of four men police in Texas believe took part in the September 21 home invasion. 

He illegally entered the country near El Paso in March without being inspected, admitted, or paroled by an immigration officer, Immigration and Customs Enforcement told DailyMail.com.

As Daily Mail first reported, Dallas police confirmed the Tren de Aragua was operating in the city and committing crimes. 

The Venezuelan citizen been charged with aggravated robbery and is currently in jail with an immigration hold for being in country illegally, according to Dallas County jail records.

In Houston, state police announced the arrest of confirmed gangster Jorgenys Robertson Cava, 32, earlier this year. 

Local cops have also been working to establish whether the brutal murder of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray is tied to the group.  

Houston also has a large Venezuelan population concentrated in the Katy suburb, which has earned it the nickname 'Katyzuela.'

 Illegal immigrants Johan Jose Martinez Rangel, 22, and Franklin Jose Pena Ramos, 26, are accused of luring the pre-teen under a bridge, where they held her for more than two hours, raping her after they tied her up.

Investigators revealed Rangel and Ramos displayed signs and monikers linked to the gang in search warrants.

However, their membership in TdA has yet to be confirmed.

In the Lone Star State, there is legal threshold for anyone to be classified as a gang member by the cops, with police around the state stating that simply having tattoos associated with a group is not enough. 

Texas has offered $5,000 to anyone with information on gang members. 

Reports can be made anonymously by calling Texas Crime Stoppers at 800-252-TIPS or on the Texas Department of Public Safety website, according to the department's social media accounts.