Venezuelan migrant gang Tren de Aragua now operating in 16 states: report

The bloodthirsty Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA), which has been terrorizing neighborhoods across the country, is now operating in 16 states, according to a new Homeland Security memo cited by the New York Post. 

The vicious gang has taken advantage of a lax southern border under the Biden-Harris administration, with many of its foot soldiers swarming the U.S. and unleashing hell on unsuspecting communities. 

The gang has been engaged in all sorts of violent crime, including murders, shootings of police officers, assaults, robberies and gun smuggling into migrant shelters.

The gang is also said to be engaged in drug dealing and the sex trafficking of migrant women in New York City, and in some states armed members of the gang have been taking over apartment buildings. 

VENEZUELAN GANG'S HUMAN TRAFFICKING OPERATIONS SURGE IN TENNESSEE'S FOUR MAJOR CITIES

These images from a Customs and Border Protection intelligence bulletin show tattoos and identifiers for Tren De Aragua. (ICE)

On "Fox & Friends" Friday, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch warned about the surge of TdA human trafficking in Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville and Chattanooga.

"This gang has exploited [the border]… They go from human trafficking to organized retail crime theft, and then they move into the drug trade, taking on the cartels in very violent, bloody battles that they've had." 

Earlier this month, Homeland Security announced it nabbed three TdA gangbangers – two in Colorado and one in Mexico – wanted for the murder of a 29-year-old man in Texas. Days earlier, police arrested three other suspects linked to TdA who were allegedly involved in the kidnapping and murder of a Texas man whose body was found in August. 

And now, according to a New York Post report, the gang is operating in an area that includes half of America’s population.

As well as New York City, Colorado and Texas, the gang has footholds in California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Wisconsin, most recently in Washington, D.C., Virginia, Montana and Wyoming, according to the report, citing a Homeland Security memo. 

The Homeland Security memo, titled "Expansion of Tren de Aragua (TdA) Across the United States Presents Challenges for Law Enforcement," states that the gang has only increased its "violent tendencies" as it spreads, according to the report.

NEW REPORT WARNS BLOODTHIRSTY VENEZUELAN GANG'S FOOTPRINT WILL REMAIN IN US ‘FOR DECADES’ 

Suspected members of Tren de Aragua were seen on surveillance footage shared by the El Paso County Attorney's Office at the Gateway Hotel. (KFOX14/El Paso County Attorney's Office)

"As the population of Venezuelan nationals continues to increase, the potential for violent TdA migrants is highly probable," the memo warned.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Homeland Security for comment and a copy of the memo.

The memo explainS how the gang is involved in lower-level fraud and theft schemes and then sends stolen funds back to South America "as a means of financing additional criminal enterprises," the memo states, the New York Post reported.

In one case cited in the document, a suspected Tren de Aragua member withdrew $118,000 from a Florida bank account with "fraudulent check deposits" and then wired the money to bank accounts in Venezuela before any fraud was detected.

In another case in Virginia, police in Fairfax County arrested three suspected gang members in August 2023 for shoplifting. One of the suspects had a fake Venezuelan ID, and all three bore the gang’s signature tattoos, according to the Post.

Young teens are also said to be members of the gang. The news comes amid a Homeland Security Inspector General report earlier this year that confirmed the Biden-Harris administration has lost track of tens of thousands of unaccompanied migrant children. 

Suspected juvenile Tren de Aragua members, based out of the Roosevelt Hotel in New York, have allegedly been attacking nearby Times Square in a string of robberies. (Obtained by New York Post)

The report noted that more than 291,000 unaccompanied migrant children had not received a notice to appear in court as of May 2024. Additionally, more than 32,000 unaccompanied migrant children got a notice to appear but then failed to show up for immigration court hearings.

Rausch said TdA has "zero respect" for police and has attacked law enforcement throughout the U.S. He added that law enforcement is limited in their efforts to crack down on TdA-related activity, especially if suspects do not have immigration "detainers."

"If we come upon them and they have a detainer on them, then we can take them into custody. But other than that, then all we can do is monitor and assure that they aren't violating the law. But that is a challenge," said Rausch, calling it a game of "cat and mouse" that's getting more dangerous.

Homeland Security recommended last month that more than 100 migrants that it has identified as having possible ties to the gang be put on an FBI watch list, after the agency flagged more than 600 with possible ties overall.

Migrants line up at the southern border in San Diego in June. Many Tren de Aragua members entered the U.S. illegally via the southern border. (Fox News)

The gang is believed to have started in the Tocoron prison in the Venezuelan state of Aragua and has since expanded into Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and the U.S. In a statement, DHS said the identities emerged as part of an ongoing re-screening operation to tackle the gang. 

Meanwhile, the Heritage Foundation, a conservative organization, issued a brief on Tren de Aragua, noting how it has become the latest transnational criminal organization to establish itself in the U.S., a surge that coincided with the historic crisis at the southern border.

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"This is a gang whose propensity for violence and ruthlessness is well documented," former Customs and Border Protection (CBP) acting Commissioner Mark Morgan is quoted as saying. 

"TdA is expanding its criminal operations like a slow growing cancer across our nation and unleashing a preventable wave of crime that will be with us for decades," he said.

The study also quotes Venezuela's statistics showing that there has been a 25% drop in violent deaths between 2021 and 2022.

"It is not implausible to postulate a link to Venezuela’s export of thousands of young criminals, many to the U.S.," according to the study.

Fox News' Elizabeth Heckman and Adam Shaw contributed to this report.