The Venezuelan prison gang Torren de Aragua is now known in 17 U.S. states after at least one member was arrested in one of the country's smallest and most remote states.
Local police in West Fargo, North Dakota, arrested Dallas-based gang member Henry Tice, 25, early last month, according to local reports.
Police initially arrested Tice for a broken taillight, but they quickly recovered more than $24,000 in cash, two face masks, black latex gloves, wire and a computer keyboard allegedly stolen from a nearby bank. I discovered it. According to KXLG.
Tice later admitted that he was involved in a group that hacked ATMs with viruses to steal cash.
He was immediately taken into custody and charged with felony theft.
The ruthless foreign gang already has a foothold in the following states, according to a leaked Department of Homeland Security memo and a previous report in the Post:
- California
- colorado
- florida
- georgia
- illinois
- louisiana
- nevada
- new jersey
- new york
- north carolina
- tennessee
- texas
- wisconsin
- virginia
- montana
- wyoming
West Fargo Police Chief Pete Nielsen said: Venezuelan nationals in the US illegallyaccused the federal government of not taking charge of the case.
“If someone comes into your community and steals $150,000, that's an illegal alien, and then they leave. Federal authorities step in and say, 'You know what, I'm going to accept this.' “Some people would say,” Nielsen said.
West Fargo has a population of just 40,000 people. North Dakota is the fourth least populous state, with fewer than 785,000 residents.
West Fargo police also arrested two other suspects, Jefferson Rodriguez Quintero and River Sanchez, believed to be involved in a robbery near Watertown, South Dakota, and found about $100,000 in cash in their car. It turned out that it was in.
Members of Torren de Aragua enter the U.S. primarily through the southern border, blending into the massive wave of migrants crossing under the Biden administration and seeking asylum so they can be more easily released by federal authorities. Pretending to be a hopeful.
In Tice's case, the gangbanger illegally crossed the border into El Paso, Texas, last year, but was quickly released by Border Patrol agents with a future court date because federal authorities didn't have the space to detain him further. A Department of Homeland Security official told the Post.
In August 2024, he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in Lewisville, Texas. But it's unclear when and why he was released from custody and not turned over to ICE, according to officials.
Officials said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents attempted to interview the suspected gangster after his recent arrest, but were stopped because he was on suicide watch in prison.
ICE then filed a detainer application with a local jail and took Mr. Tice into custody, sources said.
Members of this gang are believed to be responsible for the shooting and assault of an NYPD officer, the gruesome murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, and the brutal rape and murder of 12-year-old Houston girl Jocelyn Nangaray. There is.
The gang also occupied an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado, operated a gun-smuggling ring in an immigrant shelter in New York City, and established sex-trafficking rings in multiple states.
The incoming Trump administration will inherit this issue.
President Trump's pick as border czar, Tom Homan, has promised mass deportations, starting with criminals who entered the country illegally.
