A Venezuelan gang that has reportedly taken over several apartment buildings in Colorado is part of an “organized crime operation,” a Colorado mayor claimed Thursday.
Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman was referring to shocking video that surfaced this week showing heavily armed men breaking into an apartment complex in a Denver suburb that local residents say has been taken over by gangs.
“This is organized criminal activity. Whether it's Tren de Aragua remains to be seen,” Coffman said. Speaking on Fox News “But that's not really the problem. I mean, if you have Venezuelan immigrants there and they're committing organized crime, then they're the problem,” he said, referring to notorious South American prison gangs.
Coffman, a Republican, claimed at least two buildings had “fallen into the hands of Venezuelan gangs” and said gang members had forced out the property management company “through intimidation.”
The footage was shot earlier this month Acquired by KDVR The video shows three men with handguns and one man with a rifle inside the building just before the shootout began.
Separate footage taken at a different time shows two men with tire irons entering a room in the same complex where the migrants are staying, known as The Edge at Raleigh.
The mayor blamed the federal government for allowing the influx of migrants, many of whom crossed into Denver, a sanctuary city about 10 miles west of Aurora.
Coffman also questioned how the migrants managed to land in Aurora after making it clear they were not welcome there.
“I think we are victims of a failed southern border policy… We have a flood of migrants coming across the border, many of them crossing the border illegally, being apprehended, applying for political asylum, and then being dumped into the country without being adequately vetted,” the mayor told Fox News.
“The city of Aurora has done everything they can to keep them out of the city, frankly, because this is not our problem. This is a federal problem.”
Coffman speculated that federal authorities may have worked with nonprofits to house immigrants in their buildings and attract criminals to the apartments intended to exploit them.
Despite claims by Coffman and Aurora City Councilman Daniel Jurinski, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis' office has denied the allegations that the building was occupied by gang members.
A spokesman told the Post that police information about the “alleged break-in” was largely fabricated.
The governor's aide also noted that “occupying a building in Colorado is illegal.”
