Fears grow over spread of sadistic super gang Tren de Aragua across America… as expert issues chilling new warning
Fears are growing over the spread of a violent Venezuelan gang across the US, with experts warning the gangsters could gain a foothold in more than half the country by February next year.
Earlier this month it emerged that Tren de Aragua, which has been dubbed the ’embodiment of evil’ and ‘MS-13 on steroids’, is already active in 18 states.
This includes some of the most remote corners of America in Colorado, North Dakota, Montana, Nevada and Wyoming. The bloodthirsty criminals also have strongholds in major cities in Texas, as well as New York and Chicago.
John Fabbricatore, former director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement for Colorado and Wyoming, told DailyMail.com exclusively: “We’re going to hear stories everywhere about them being arrested.
“They’re in seventeen states now. It wouldn’t surprise me if that number is more than 25 by February.’
The gang, known as TdA to police, originated in a Venezuelan prison.
Members of the South American mafia have since sneaked into the US through the southern border, hidden among the one million Venezuelan migrants who entered the country under the Biden administration.
They can often be identified by telltale tattoos, including a train (‘tren’ is Spanish for train), a crown, a clock and an AK-47.
Earlier this year, Daily Mail revealed how the gang set up its new headquarters in the Mexican city of Juarez on the US border, just across from El Paso, Texas.
And sensational police investigations have revealed how the mafia is behind a spiraling crime wave across America, with gangsters accused of murders, violent attacks on cops and sex trafficking.
John Fabbricatore, former director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement for Colorado and Wyoming, is an expert on immigrant gangs like TdA
North Dakota
Three suspected TdA members were taken into custody in North Dakota last month.
Authorities in West Fargo, home to fewer than 40,000 people, have arrested alleged gang member Henry Theis, 25. Valley News Live.
Theis was charged with theft last month after being found with $24,800 in cash in a car.
Police stopped him because the car he was driving matched the description of a vehicle involved in an ATM theft that same day.
During the traffic stop, Theis admitted to working with three other hackers to “jackpot” ATMs, using a virus to steal money.
He also said other Venezuelan criminals did the same in North Dakota and went by the nickname “the Magicians.”
The car Theis was driving had temporary paper tags from Texas, and he told police he was a Venezuelan living in Dallas.
A few days later, two other Venezuelans believed to have worked with Thesis were also arrested.
Suspected TdA member Henry Theis, 25, was arrested in North Dakota in November
Jefferson Rodriguez-Quintero and Ryber Sanchez have also been charged in the North Dakota ATM scam
Tren de Aragua gang tattoos (photo above) were part of a Department of Homeland Security bulletin recently shared with federal agents
Jefferson Rodriguez-Quintero and Ryber Sanchez were similarly charged in the ATM scam and booked into the Codington County Jail, reported local station KXLG.
“They see the United States as one big money pit for them,” Fabbricatore explains.
“It doesn’t matter how far away North Dakota is, as you think, that goes pretty far. But for them there are ATMs. There are jewelry stores there. There are things to rob. There are rich people there who can enter their houses. Everything in the US is just dollar signs to them.”
Nearly $100,000 in cash was recovered between the three men arrested in North Dakota.
East to West
US law enforcement officials confirmed that the South American syndicate has been active in California, Montana, Nevada and Wyoming. Fox News reported.
A memo from the Department of Homeland Security confirmed the gang’s presence there, but did not mention specific cases or arrests.
The leaked document also places the gang in Virginia and Washington DC
Earlier this year, it emerged that the gang had taken over apartment complexes in Aurora, Colorado, one of which was allegedly used as a torture center.
One couple was held against their will, tortured and terrorized by 13 to 15 armed individuals, Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlin said.
“They were pistol-whipped, they were beaten, they were terrorized. “The fact that one human being can treat another human being this way is appalling,” he added.
The pair even had their fingernails pulled out of their hands, DailyMail.com discovered this week.
Meanwhile, in New York, Tren de Aragua has recruited a so-called army of child gang members as young as 11 from migrant shelters.
Police, dubbed the ‘Little Devils of 42nd Street’, warned they were robbing stores and threatening the public with guns and knives.
Texas
The Lone Star State has said it will seek the death penalty for two alleged TdA members accused of raping and killing a 12-year-old girl in Houston.
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg confirmed that Franklin Pena, 26, and Johan Martinez-Rangel, 22, could be put to death by lethal injection if a jury finds them guilty in the June death of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray .
Pena and Rangel are accused of luring the girl out of a Houston supermarket late at night and allegedly took her under a bridge, where they spent two hours before emerging alone, police said.
Nungaray’s body was found floating in a bayou hours later. The pre-teen had been raped and strangled.
Authorities believe that both suspects have ties to TdA.
DailyMail.com has also previously reported how the gangsters infiltrated San Antonio and took over at least four apartment complexes.
Dallas police also confirmed earlier this year that Tren De Aragua committed crimes in the city.
Jocelyn Nungaray, 12, was found raped and murdered near her home in Houston, Texas, in June
Franklin Jose Pena Ramos, 26, was one of two illegal immigrants charged in Nungaray’s death. Investigators were looking into a possible link to the Tren de Aragua gang
Authorities have also charged 22-year-old Johan Jose Martinez Rangel with the murder, claiming the two suspects held Nungaray under a bridge for hours before strangling her.
Florida
Another alleged Venezuelan gang member was arrested in Miami, the US Border Patrol announced in December.
“On 12/6, USBP agents in Miami, FL, arrested a Tren de Aragua gang member, a Venezuelan national with a 2022 arrest for illegal entry,” agency head Jason Owens announced on X.
The agency told DailyMail.com that the 19-year-old gangster was being held in West Palm Beach, Florida, not far from the home of newly elected President Donald Trump.
“Custody of the individual was transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. When individuals are confronted with derogatory information, we deny entry, detain them, or refer them to other federal agencies for removal or further investigation, investigation and/or prosecution, as appropriate,” a Border Patrol spokesperson said.
Utah
A Venezuelan dissident running for office in Salt Lake City, Utah, has warned that gangsters have been linked to at least two separate crimes in the state, including an alleged prostitution ring and shooting.
Carlos Moreno told it New York Post: ‘Our law enforcement people are not ready. “They’re not ready to face these types of gangs in Utah because the way they do things is completely different than criminals here in the United States.”
“That’s why people are very scared now,” he added.