Notorious Venezuelan Gang ‘Makes Denver its HQ,’ Republican Says

Venezuelan crime syndicate Tren De Aragua (TdA) has established headquarters in Denver, Colorado, according to a local Republican.
The prolific criminal gang has been thrust into the national spotlight after a viral video circulated on social media of men with assault rifles busting down doors of an apartment complex in the nearby city of Aurora.
Former President Donald Trump claimed the gang has “overrun” Aurora, while Mayor Mike Coffman said rumors surrounding the group are exaggerated.
Aurora City Councilor Danielle Jurinsky shared a printout of an email exchange between local police officers from November 2023 on social media.
“I added the intel from HSI that Sgt. Bungartz received today. I also spoke with an ICE agent today who reached out to his intel guy; the guy got back rather quickly and stated TdA has decided to make Denver their headquarters due to sanctuary policies and location,” an excerpt from the leaked email read.
Jurinsky questioned whether other local officials had been told about the gang’s presence.
A spokesperson for ICE told Newsweek: “I cannot verify anything in these tweets as this document was not generated by ICE, HSI, or ERO.”
Responding to the posts Thursday afternoon, a spokesperson for Aurora city officials said that there had been speculation about the gang more than a year ago.
“The information released without authorization in these e-mails highlights portions of the investigative process into these concerns,” the spokesperson said via email.
“We must remember that police departments and the justice system as a whole must rely on admissible evidence, not hearsay, rumors and fragments of information. Contrary to claims made on social media and by select news organizations, the city, including APD, has remained consistent in responses on this matter.”
The statement went on to say that the Aurora Police Department was continuing to investigate criminal gang activity in the city.
Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who has been among the harshest critics of the gang and border security under Biden more broadly, said TdA was a “vicious gang that has invaded our country thanks to the negligence of the Biden-Harris Administration’s irresponsible open border policy.”
“It took multiple demands from members of Congress for this administration to designate these vicious thugs as a Transnational Criminal Organization. However, more meaningful actions are clearly needed,” Rubio said in a statement to Newsweek.
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data, the U.S. Border Patrol reported substantial apprehensions among TdA gang members in fiscal years 2023 (41) and 2024 (23), suggesting a rise in their activity in the U.S.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s press secretary, Andrew Mahaleris, previously told Newsweek that the gang is a “ruthless organization that has no place in the state of Texas.”
“The price we’ve paid for the federal government’s failure to secure the border has been deadly. Among the many victims is 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungary, who was raped and killed by illegal immigrants,” Mahaleris said.
“If Jocelyn’s killers are, in fact, Tren de Aragua members, Texas will bring down the full weight of these enhanced criminal penalties on them. Tren de Aragua has [a] target on their back, and the State of Texas is utilizing all available resources to go after them.”
Concerns have grown over TdA, whose members have been involved in a string of high-profile crimes throughout the United States.
Two men, Johan Jose Martinez-Rangel and Franklin Jose Pena Ramos, charged with Nungary’s death in Houston last summer, have ties to the crime syndicate.
In early October, an alleged sex trafficking ringleader known as La Barbie, who is said to have links to TdA, was arrested in El Paso, according to a leaked Border Patrol memo seen by the New York Post.
Abbott is offering a $5,000 bounty for intelligence that leads to the capture of members of TdA that have “spread terror and carnage” across the U.S.
On September 16, Abbott signed a proclamation officially designating the gang as a foreign terrorist organization. In response, he directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to launch a strike team composed of state troopers, Texas Rangers, and other law enforcement units to actively pursue and dismantle the gang’s operations within Texas.
TdA, a transnational criminal organization formed in a Venezuelan prison, focuses on human trafficking and other abuses targeting vulnerable migrants. The gang is accused of smuggling women and girls for sexual exploitation.
The crime syndicate is believed to have about 5,000 members and rakes in annual profits between $10 and $15 million, according to Telemundo.
Update 10/24/23 5:00 p.m.: This story has been updated with new statements from Marco Rubio and the city of Aurora.