4 confirmed members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) have been caught attempting to sneak illegally into the U.S. through the southern border, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has introduced.
The 4 TdA members have been amongst 22 suspected unlawful migrants who have been apprehended on New Yr’s Eve by the Texas Division of Public Security (DPS) working in Val Verde County.
“Our prime precedence is the security and safety of Texans, together with in opposition to the rising menace of Tren de Aragua,” Abbott mentioned in an announcement.
Abbott, whose administration has been clamping down onerous on the gang which has been terrorizing communities throughout the nation, mentioned the 22 migrants are from Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela. Eleven of the 22 have been arrested for legal trespass, whereas the rest have been household teams and have been referred to Border Patrol for processing.
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Tren de Aragua members arrested in Texas. (Fox Information)
The 4 TdA members have been amongst a bunch of 9 Venezuelan nationals who claimed they have been heading to San Antonio, Irving, and Corsicana, Texas. DPS particular brokers have been in a position to confirm their gang affiliation via social media apps on their telephones, in addition to their tattoos, Abbott mentioned.
The people have been recognized as Segundo Ocando-Mejia, 39; Pedro Luis Salazar-Cuervo, 27; Antonio Joe Urruttia-Rojas, 18; and Levi Jesus Urrutia-Blanco, 18.Â
Ocando-Mejia had tattoos on his shoulders indicating he might maintain rank or management inside the gang, Abbott mentioned.Â
Migrants surge via a gap within the razor wire in Texas in April. (David Peinado/ZUMA Press Wire)
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Abbott mentioned he has designated TdA as a overseas terrorist group, and in September, he launched a statewide operation to aggressively goal TdA to disrupt their legal operations. He directed DPS to raise them to a Tier 1 gang and created a TdA Strike Crew to establish and arrest TdA gang members. Â
Abbott mentioned he wouldn’t tolerate the gang working or gaining a foothold in Texas.Â
The gang has been engaged in all types of violent crime, together with murders, shootings of cops, assaults, robberies and gun smuggling into migrant shelters. A Homeland Safety memo cited by the New York Put up in November states it’s working in no less than 16 states.
“Till President Trump is again within the White Home to safe our border, Texas will proceed to search out harmful criminals like TdA and put them behind bars to guard Texans from this vicious gang,” Abbott mentioned.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott mentioned he won’t let TdA acquire a foothold in Texas. (Fox Information Photograph/Joshua Comins)
Abbott introduced that his Public Security Workplace is providing a reward of as much as $5,000 for data resulting in the identification and arrest of identified or suspected members of TdA gang members who’ve been or are concerned in legal exercise.Â
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The information comes simply days after 22 TdA gang members have been arrested in two raids in New York Metropolis.
A number of have been busted hiding out in a Bronx house constructing positioned subsequent to a daycare heart, a regulation enforcement supply tells Fox Information, underlining how the gang has immersed itself among the many normal inhabitants within the sanctuary metropolis.Â
