FBI agent, others warn of Venezuelan gang entering into US
by: Oriana Bottaro Posted: Feb 5, 2024 / 09:51 PM MST Updated: Feb 6, 2024 / 12:13 PM MST
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The largest growing criminal organization in the world has infiltrated its way into the United States, said an El Paso FBI agent.
The Tren de Aragua, or the “Aragua Train,” gained notoriety after its founding in 2012 by Hector Guerrero, alias “Niño Guerrero” or Warrior Kid, in the state of Aragua located in the north-central region of Venezuela.
Operating initially from Tocorón prison in Venezuela, the gang made headlines after 11,000 police officers raided the prison back in September, uncovering a zoo, nightclub, swimming pools, and a children’s playground.
What they did not find was any sign of Guerrero, the head of the gang.
The Venezuelan police presume he fled the prison via concrete tunnels and is now leading the gang from somewhere else. Guerrero is not the only one who fled the prison. Hundreds of other criminals also fled, making it the biggest escape of prisoners ever in the country, according to a report in InsightCrime.org, a think tank and media organization dedicated to reporting and analyzing organized crime in the Americas.
“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.
The gang has now become a significant concern along the US-Mexico border, Blair said.
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.
Blair also tells KTSM that the gang’s modus operandi includes extortion of small migrant businesses, particularly those unwilling to pay their imposed “tax.” He also added that a lot of them can be identified through their train symbol tattoos on their bodies, but over the last few years a lot of them stopped getting tattoos because they know they are more easily identified if they have a tattoo.
So, what is law enforcement doing? 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.
Blair says the immigration system is broken and there is a need for standardized collaboration among local, state, and national governments to effectively combat transnational criminal organizations, as the gang continues to operate with impunity.
