The DEA mentioned that about 49 unlawful immigrants have been arrested, related with the Tren de Aragua gang.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Company (DEA) has mentioned it arrested dozens of individuals throughout a current raid in Colorado that focused the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang.
The DEA’s Rocky Mountain division, in a publish on Sunday evening, mentioned its brokers, together with federal and native officers, “performed an early morning operation at a makeshift nightclub in Adams County,” exterior of Denver.
Medicine, weapons, and money have been seized within the raid, and 49 unlawful immigrants have been taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Enforcement (ICE) officers in Denver. In a separate publish, the DEA division mentioned that greater than 100 legislation enforcement officers have been concerned, no photographs have been fired, and nobody was injured.
“Many are related with the Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang from Venezuela,” mentioned the DEA, which included video footage of brokers making arrests alongside people in handcuffs. Different footage included a bus taking away “almost 50 unlawful aliens” after the raid, based on the company.
Throughout the 2024 election marketing campaign, Tren de Aragua turned a speaking level after President Donald Trump highlighted that members of the gang had taken over buildings and areas in locations throughout Colorado, notably the Aurora space.
Trump visited Aurora and advised a crowd that he believes it “has been invaded and conquered.”
“These cities have been conquered … and we’ll put these vicious and bloodthirsty criminals in jail or kick them out of our nation. And we might be very, very efficient in doing it. It’s going to occur very, very quick,” he mentioned in October of final 12 months.
Some officers within the metropolis pushed again towards Trump’s claims about gangs taking on elements of town.
On the similar time, Trump pledged to deport felony unlawful immigrants from america.
The gang originated as a jail gang that was based mostly in Aragua, Venezuela, however U.S. officers say it has shortly expanded throughout North and South America lately. The gang has partaken in human smuggling, drug trafficking, cash laundering, and different felony exercise.
The raid exterior Denver was made simply days after Trump was sworn into workplace and after he issued plenty of government orders focusing on unlawful immigration. In considered one of his orders, Trump sought to designate Tren de Aragua, drug cartels, and MS-13 as international terrorist organizations, including that he would declare an emergency to take care of these organizations.
“Their campaigns of violence and terror in america and internationally are terribly violent, vicious, and equally threaten the soundness of the worldwide order within the Western Hemisphere,” his order states.
Such orders, Trump has mentioned, are wanted after hundreds of thousands of individuals entered america underneath the Biden administration each illegally and underneath Biden’s momentary authorized entry applications.
The Trump administration has additionally warned native officers in so-called sanctuary cities that they may face punitive motion and even prosecution if they don’t cooperate with federal immigration enforcement efforts. A memo launched by the Division of Justice (DOJ) final week directed U.S. prosecutors to research officers who engaged in any alleged obstruction.
“The U.S. Legal professional’s Workplaces and litigating parts of the Division of Justice shall examine incidents involving any such misconduct for potential prosecution, together with for obstructing federal perform” in the event that they violate a legislation that bars committing an offense towards or defrauding the federal authorities, it mentioned.
Weeks earlier than Trump took workplace, the mayor of Denver, Mike Johnston, mentioned that he can be prepared to go to jail to withstand the Trump administration’s deportation efforts.
Trump border czar Tom Homan responded to the remark in a Fox Information interview on the time, saying he can be “prepared to place [Johnston] in jail” if he doesn’t comply.
Reuters contributed to this report.
