Concerns regarding the deadly Venezuelan migrant gang “Tren de Aragua”‘s activity in Texas are growing as news of their crimes in the Lone Star State emerges.
The most recent story comes from the Dallas suburb of Farmers Branch, where three of the four TDA gang members wanted for a murder had been apprehended in their stronghold of Aurora, Colorado.
In connection with the kidnapping and murder of Nilzult Arneaud Petit on August 24, 2024, authorities sought the four TDA members. Farmers Branch Police released a news release on October 28, 2024, stating that the victim “was an associate of the suspects and allegedly involved in a complex ATM theft operation targeting several locations nationwide.”
Texas Senator Ted Cruz also mentioned the TDA this month during a televised discussion with Democrat Colin Allred, who is challenging him in the November elections.
“I hear about it everywhere I go. I hear about it in Dallas – the folks concerned about the Dallas woman who Venezuelan gangs broke into her house, tied her up, pistol whipped her with a gun…and robbed her.” -U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (October 15, 2024)
According to the Dallas Morning News, the Venezuelan migrant “crew” who committed the September 21, 2024, Dallas home invasion (and who were previously TDA members before branching out on their own) received “$75,000 in jewelry, designer purses, a bank card, and the victim’s iPhone.”
The DPS released a map of known TDA criminal activities in Texas in late September, and these arrests coincide with that release.
Last week, DPS Special Agents assigned to the San Antonio TAG arrested not one, but two Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang members during a traffic stop in San Antonio. The San Antonio Police Department and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) were also involved. The two men were… pic.twitter.com/JPitubX35L
— Texas DPS (@TxDPS) September 25, 2024
That release came after the September arrests of more than 20 TDA members who had “taken over” the Gateway Hotel in downtown El Paso.
Reports this month also include the arrest of numerous TDA members during a traffic check in San Antonio in September and the intimidation of a North San Antonio apartment complex by dozens of migrants, at least four of whom were TDA members, in October.
Since then, a clearer picture of the TDA’s spread throughout Texas has emerged. The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) has released a photo of the October 11, 2024, arrest of a TDA member wanted for murder in Texas. HSI has not provided additional information regarding the crime.
#HSI_HQ El Paso special agents & @USBPChiefEPT assisted @USMarshalsHQ w/the arrest of a Tren de Aragua gang member Oct. 11 in Sunland Park, NM. The Venezuelan national was arrested on an outstanding warrant for homicide in Texas. @HSIElPaso pic.twitter.com/q4U0OjuPYp
— HSI El Paso (@HSIElPaso) October 16, 2024
Days earlier, the Texas DPS announced the October 7, 2024 arrest of a “Tren de Aragua” (TDA) gang member in Houston, According to news media reports he “was suspected of recruiting middle school students within the Houston Independent School District.”
A week later, Texas Governor Greg Abbott urged the suspect to “go to jail and rot” on x.com.
TEXAS DPS: Tren de Aragua Gang Member Arrested for Recruiting at Houston Middle School.
Go to jail and rot.
https://t.co/yZ6Bg3qBro via @BreitbartNews— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) October 15, 2024
This deteriorating crisis has spurred Texas Governor Greg Abbott to offer a $5,000 prize for information leading to the identification and arrest of known or suspected Tren de Aragua (TDA) gang members.
