
(Scypre.com) – The Mexican border state of Chihuahua is on high alert due to the presence of members of the violent Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua (TdA). Reports indicate that members of the gang are moving through Chihuahua to cross into the United States near El Paso, Texas.
Chihuahua Secretary of Public Safety Gilberto Loya announced on Monday that Mexican authorities have observed a significant number of individuals they suspect to be TdA members operating within the state. These individuals are believed to be passing through the region in an attempt to cross the U.S.-Mexico border, as reported by the Latin Times.
The heightened concern comes shortly after the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned TdA in July, labeling it a transnational criminal organization. The gang has been linked to severe crimes, including human trafficking, extortion, money laundering, and drug trafficking, which pose a “deadly criminal threat” throughout the Western Hemisphere.
“Tren de Aragua leverages its transnational networks to traffic people, especially migrant women and girls, across borders for sex trafficking and debt bondage,” the Treasury Department stated. “Tren de Aragua members often kill them and publicize their deaths as a threat to others.”
U.S. officials have recently expressed concern that TdA, which originated in Aragua, Venezuela, is infiltrating the United States. Representative Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) described TdA as “MS-13 on steroids,” highlighting the gang’s aggressive nature. “They’re extremely aggressive. It’s not as if they’re a passive group, or they want to quietly go about things,” Gonzales told Fox News Digital. “They’re coming from Venezuela, one of the most war-torn countries over the last decade. So, they’re battle-hardened in many ways. And they’ve made this trek from there to here. But they are also becoming… more organized and more brazen.”
The gang is also suspected of being behind a recent incident in Aurora, Colorado, where a group of armed men stormed an apartment complex. Residents of the complex have reported that the area has been overrun by gang activity. “This is organized. They patrol the property with guns visibly, like they’re not trying to hide them. There’s no repercussion. These are ghosts,” a resident, who wished to remain anonymous, told Fox News Digital.
Another resident noted that the gang has been dealing drugs from the apartment building, while Aurora City Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky confirmed suspicions of sex trafficking linked to TdA in the city. In Mexico, Loya expressed concern about the gang’s activities in Central Mexico and emphasized the need for Chihuahua to address the issue before it escalates.
“We have detected — thanks to collaboration with the United States — that a large number of people who belong to Tren de Aragua have passed through Chihuahua,” Loya stated, according to a translation by Border Report. “Seeing what is going on in [Central Mexico], we want to be ahead of the curve here in Chihuahua.”