The largest growing criminal organization in the world has infiltrated its way into the United States, said an El Paso FBI agent.
The Venezuelan police presume he fled the prison via concrete tunnels and is now leading the gang from somewhere else. “A lot of these criminals have taken advantage of Venezuela’s most vulnerable people who have fled the country” in the wake of an economic and social issues, said former Border Patrol Agent Ammon Blair. A CNN report said U.S. Border Patrol arrested 38 possible gang members between October 2022 and 2023, with two detained near the El Paso border.
FBI Special Agent Britton Boyd with the El Paso FBI highlighted the threat to Borderland communities, emphasizing that identified Tren de Aragua members face prosecution for illegal entry into the U.S.
“The gang capitalizes on its Venezuelan community for entry, primarily engaging in human smuggling and sex trafficking,” Boyd said. Blair, the former Border Patrol agent, said this can be extremely troublesome for Borderland communities given that this gang is extremely violent. “The same thing that is happening in South America is now going to start happening here in the United States in the Venezuelan migrant communities,” Blair said.
The biggest problem with cracking down on the gang is their lack of criminal records from Venezuela and strained US-Venezuela relations, hindering information exchange, Blair said. He added that the federal government’s National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) is insufficient when local law enforcement apprehends alleged gang members, making it hard to associate criminal activity with Tren de Aragua.
Boyd emphasizes the potential threat if the gang establishes itself in El Paso, preying on immigrant populations.
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