A brutal gang from the baby-faced Torren de Aragua immigrant gang in a city-funded shelter in Manhattan is carrying out armed robberies in Times Square and getting away with it, officials and sources say. spoke.
NYPD officials told the Post that nearly 20 young immigrant thugs, some as young as 11, have graduated from wallet-snatching to robbing New Yorkers and tourists at gunpoint. He said he was part of a group of dangerous brats seeking asylum.
But they've managed to stay out of prison because of their age and the Empire State's lenient criminal justice laws, said Deputy Chief of Criminal Affairs Jason Savino.
“Some people are brazen,” Savino said. “We know they have guns, the fact that they committed robberies at gunpoint and the fact that they were brazen enough to display handguns in and around social media. It is also clear from
“This is the first formed group that we've found of about 20 people hanging out in groups every day, posting on social media and bragging about their crew,” Chief Sgt. said. “We see little pockets in and around Times Square and in and around the shelters.
“But when it comes to the true threshold, that's limited to shelters.”
Sabino, who calls himself Los Diablos de la 42, which means “42 Little Devils'' in Spanish, said his crew of about 21 gang members were arrested in 50 separate incidents. However, no one has been imprisoned.
“They committed a robbery. [in] “All the sexy places in and around Central Park, in and around Times Square, in and around transit,” he said. “And we are targeting tourists.
“They kind of graduated, starting with purse snatching, then progressing to strong armed robbery, and then progressing to start brandishing knives in a pack format.”
Also worrying to New York's Finest is the possibility of an all-out gang war erupting between the TDA and the Latin Kings, one of the Big Apple's most notorious gangs.
Authorities say the feud between the two gangs dates back several years to the alleged murder of a TDA member by the Latin King, and remains a serious feud.
The TDA, which rose from the poverty and corruption that had long plagued Venezuela, has established a criminal foothold in five autonomous regions in just over a year.
Law enforcement officials say gang members hid among the millions of asylum seekers who crossed the U.S. border with Mexico starting in 2022, before scattering across the country.
Members are asked to get distinctive tattoos that signify their membership, and body art typically includes an anchor, a watch, a crown, and a nod to Hector “Nino” Guerrero, which means warrior in Spanish. It includes phrases that include the word “guerrero,'' a word of respect. Venezuelan gang leader.
Gangster tattoos tend to feature the number “23” on the back or NBA stars Michael Jordan and LeBron James, both of whom wear that number on their jerseys, while others include images of bulls. It appears to be a shout-out to the Chicago Bulls basketball team. According to officials, this is a city where TDA flourished.
In New York, gang members exploited the city's immigrant shelter system, organizing robberies and trafficking drugs, guns, and sex workers under the noses of private security guards. According to sources.
The Diablos crew from the Roosevelt Hotel is led by older gangbangers who recruit young men to carry out robberies, sometimes as part of their initiation into the gang, before bringing back the stolen goods. , the source said.
Members of this group of gangs hang out in clusters with young recruits, where the children will commit crimes and perhaps steal chains from passersby. Savino said the punishment for failure could be being forced to lick the floor of a city subway car or worse.
Communication between crew members happens online, where they brazenly post exploits, he added.
“They use group chat on their government-issued phones, so we know they use it. And the group apps are titled to suit their gang, and they use government-issued I am using a mobile phone.”
Recruiters also select young people as potential hires who are less likely to be billed as adults.
In August, police suspected that an 11-year-old subway robbery suspect from Venezuela who lived at the Roosevelt residence had ties to the TDA.
Once the boy was taken into custody, he was issued a juvenile card and released.
In addition to the young age of some gang members, the state's criminal justice reforms prohibit bail for misdemeanors and most felonies, which is why TDA suspects are released, according to some law enforcement agencies. It is said that there are many cases.
“This is a product of bail reform,” Savino told the Post. “We tried to try some of them in criminal court, but it was somewhat unsuccessful.”
