Illegal border crossers from Venezuela, who are known to have ties to the violent prison gang Tren de Aragua, have been linked to an ATM theft ring operating in various states. The most recent arrests in connection with this criminal activity have taken place in North and South Dakota.
The West Fargo police recently made an arrest outside a Gate City Bank branch. A 25-year-old man was initially pulled over for a broken taillight. However, the situation took a serious turn when the police discovered his alleged involvement in bank ATM thefts in the Red River Valley. Consequently, the man was arrested for felony theft.
“During that traffic stop, [the officer] starts talking to the individual, who is here illegally, who is not a citizen of the United States. As he questions him, he ends up finding that there was over $24,000 cash in his vehicle,” West Fargo Police Chief Pete Neilsen told Valley News Live. Upon searching the vehicle, police found facemasks, black latex gloves, a computer keyboard with several cables and wires, and more than $24,000 in cash. According to court documents, he admitted to being involved with a group of hackers who “jackpot” ATMs to steal money.
According to KXLG News, he reportedly disclosed the identities of two additional individuals implicated in the bank theft operation that specifically targeted financial institutions in Fargo and West Fargo. Law enforcement apprehended these individuals on Interstate 29 near Watertown, South Dakota, in Codington County.
According to Nielsen, it is surprising that when an illegal alien steals $150,000 and then leaves a community, the federal authorities do not intervene to apprehend the individual.
In a recent incident, the Farmers Branch Police Department, located in a suburb of Dallas, apprehended five Venezuelan men who were found to be illegally residing in the country. According to The Center Square, these individuals are suspected to be involved in a larger ATM theft ring.
The recent arrests made in Dallas are a significant development in an ongoing national investigation into ATM thefts across multiple states, including Colorado, New Mexico, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Various law enforcement agencies, such as the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, and U.S. Secret Service, have collaborated to tackle this issue.
The Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas Financial Crimes Intelligence Center, Colorado Bureau of Investigations, Colorado State Police, the South Dakota Prosecutor’s Office, and officials in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Campbell County, Wyoming, Meade County, South Dakota, Dona Ana County, New Mexico, and the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office are all part of the investigative team.
In July, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) took action by designating and sanctioning TdA as a transnational criminal organization. This move was followed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s decision in September to designate TdA as a foreign terrorist organization. According to The Center Square, this decision marked the beginning of a significant effort to target and disrupt their operations.
The U.S. Department of State has announced a reward of up to $12 million for providing information that leads to the arrest and/or conviction of multiple TdA leaders. These individuals are being sought for their involvement in conspiring to participate in or attempting to participate in transnational organized crime.
Members of the TdA gang are notorious for their involvement in various criminal activities, including violence, murder, kidnapping, extortion, bribery, and trafficking of drugs and humans. Their activities have led to numerous law enforcement investigations across the country.
According to a report by The Center Square, the Biden administration saw a record-breaking number of Venezuelan illegal border crossers in U.S. history, with over one million individuals reported.
According to The Center Square, there are millions of illegal foreign nationals who have been identified for deportation, as well as over 662,000 individuals with criminal records who have also been identified for deportation but have not yet been deported.
