Texas Department of Public Safety troopers arrested more than 20 suspected Torren de Aragua gang members. Violent Venezuelan gang members have been charged with various state crimes, including human smuggling, prostitution, and drug possession in connection with the operation at the Gateway Hotel in El Paso, Texas.
Texas DPS officers went to the Gateway Hotel in El Paso, where they arrested more than 20 members of El Paso's KVIA ABC7, Torren de Aragua (TdA) gang. reported. The move follows Gov. Greg Abbott's designation of Venezuela's violent prison gangs as foreign terrorist organizations.
DPS officials told the local ABC affiliate that the arrested TdA gang members were charged with human smuggling, prostitution and illegal drug possession.
After the governor designated TdA as a foreign terrorist organization, he offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the identification and arrest of TdA gang members, Breitbart Texas reported.
“Tren de Aragua has spread terror and genocide in every country they have ever been in, and Texas will not allow them to gain a foothold in our state,” Governor Abbott said in a statement this week. Ta. “Today, I am announcing a reward for information leading to the identification and arrest of known or suspected members of this gang who have committed or are involved in these heinous crimes. We will not allow criminals to use our state as a base to terrorize our citizens.”
“The recent infiltration and expansion of the violent Venezuelan gang Torren de Aragua is a dangerous and deadly challenge facing our country and our nation,” Abbott said at a September 17 press conference. . “Our top priority is the safety and security of all Texans.”
According to a report in Breitbart Texas, Governor Abbott's move followed news of violence by suspected TdA gang members that forced a Texas District Court judge to order an El Paso hotel closure. City officials filed a complaint in a lawsuit against the owners of the Gateway Hotel after responding to about 700 calls requesting service to the address.
During fiscal year 2020, the last full year of President Donald Trump's term, Border Patrol apprehended only 465 Venezuelan migrants crossing from Mexico into five Texas-based sectors. In the first year of the Biden-Harris administration, about 68,000 Venezuelan migrants were apprehended in a dramatic increase in border crossings.
Cumulatively from fiscal years 2021 to 2024, Border Patrol agents apprehended approximately 499,000 Venezuelan immigrants who entered the United States illegally in five Texas-based Border Patrol divisions, according to Texas DPS officials.
“Our goal is to protect Texas from the growing threat of gangs,” Abbott concluded in Monday's speech. “We will not allow them to use Texas as a base to terrorize our people.”
“They have a target on their back and we will go after them,” the governor said. “Texas is the wrong state for them to do business in.”
bob price He is an associate editor and senior news contributor on the Breitbart Texas Border Team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston what is your point? sunday morning talk show. He is also the president of blue wonder cancer care products.
