Two suspected members of the Tren de Aragua gang arrested in connection with an attempted murder in the migrant hotbed of Aurora, Colorado, have been released from custody, The Washington Post has learned.
Venezuelan brothers Dixon Azuaje Pérez, 20, and Nixon Azuaje Pérez, 19, who were charged with conspiring to tamper with evidence in the July 28 shooting, were released on $1,000 bail despite Immigration and Customs Enforcement having issued arrest warrants for them, officials said.
Sources say the pair are being monitored with GPS technology and are located near their Denver apartment.
The Aurora Police Department confirmed to The Washington Post that the two are “no longer in custody.”
A Department of Homeland Security source told The Post that the brothers entered the U.S. through the Eagle Pass, Texas, port of entry on Aug. 22, 2023, using the CBP One app, even though they did not have the proper documentation needed to enter the country.
Instead, they claimed they were seeking asylum and were let through, the sources said.
“Sanctuary cities don't protect Americans. They only protect criminals,” said John Fabbricatore, a former Denver ICE director who is running for Colorado Congress. “As we've seen in this case, Two people allowed into the country through CBP One “Although the two men were involved in a shooting, they were released under sanctuary policies and ICE was not notified. They could potentially return to society and commit further crimes.”
The siblings were released within hours of entering the United States and are believed to have told federal authorities they were going to New York.
But the brothers were found in the sanctuary city of Aurora, where members of Tren de Aragua had taken over entire apartment buildings and terrorized residents with violent crimes.
U.S. marshals did not immediately respond to a Washington Post inquiry about whether they had arrested Nixon or Dixon.
Confirmed gang member Jonardi Jose Pacheco Chirino, who sources previously said goes by the nickname “Galeta” (Spanish for “cookie”), is a “commander” of Tren de Aragua, and was also allegedly involved in the July 28 shooting.
In November 2023, Pacheco Chirino was accused of brutally beating a man along with a gang member and was eventually released on bail but failed to appear in court.
He was later involved in a shooting that occurred at the same apartment on July 28th.
Pacheco Chirino and his brother, Honarty DeJesus Pacheco Chirinos, also members of Tren de Aragua, face attempted murder and other charges. According to the Aurora Police Department.
The brothers illegally crossed the border into Texas on October 2, 2022.
Pacheco Chirino was fitted with a tracking device at the time and released.
The Biden administration has started using CBP One. App for refugee applicants to be launched in January 2023 in anticipation of the end of the Trump-era COVID-era expulsion order known as Title 42.
Migrants then began using the app to make immigration reservations while in Mexico to avoid being exploited by drug cartels or endangered by illegal entry.
However, sources said no further review will be conducted.
“There is very little vetting on the app, so it's no wonder gang members get in so easily and so frequently,” a source told The Post.
The app allows 1,450 migrants to enter the United States each day at Mexican ports of entry.
The Mexican government recently Busing migrants from southern Mexico We will transport you to the U.S. border so that you can arrive early for your CBP One appointment.
CBP One also allowed three suspected ISIS terrorists from Tajikistan to enter the United States. According to data from the Department of Homeland Security It was presented to the House Judiciary Committee.
The three terrorism suspects were arrested in June in a multistate investigation along with five others who crossed the border from Tajikistan during the Biden administration, The Washington Post first reported.
