The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) made incredible progress after a Denver raid resulted in detaining multiple members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
On Jan. 26, the DEA raided a “makeshift nightclub” associated with the Venezuelan gang in Adams County. ICE detained 49 people, of those, the DEA said 41 were living in the country illegally and many were connected to Tren de Aragua, reports KDVR.
The existence of the Tren de Aragua gang in the Denver area became national news after an August 2024 viral video showed members of the gang carrying weapons at the Edge at Lowry Apartment complex. Since then, there have been several arrests of alleged gang members across the Denver metro, including suspects facing charges of armed home invasion and kidnapping, adds KDVR.
🚨 #NEW#DEA/local LEO partners continue hitting streets day/night pursuing drug criminals.
A suspected member of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) was taken into custody in the Denver area overnight.
Due to the ongoing investigation, more info may be released later today. pic.twitter.com/exlY3gTjlZ— DEARockyMountain (@DEAROCKYMTNDiv) January 29, 2025
The Denver Gazette reports on the sordid history between the infamous gang and Denver’s Democratic leaders trying to minimize the gang’s effect on the area:
Democratic leaders in Colorado — Gov. Jared Polis and U.S. Rep. Jason Crow among them — had been reluctant to give credence to claims that the gang had taken over two apartment complexes in Aurora.
Aurora officials also initially rejected claims by an apartment management company that the gang’s activities had precluded its staffers from caring for its tenants and buildings.
TdA is linked to various criminal activities that include drug and human trafficking — particularly immigrant women and girls and money laundering — kidnapping and extortion.
To combat the gang’s activities, Aurora officials have sought to close two apartment complexes TdA had been operating out of, a move that a gang expert at the University of Colorado at Boulder has called a “very rare” strategy.
The gang’s operation appears to be to get a foothold in a complex — through violence and intimidation — with the intent of collecting up to half of the rent from leaseholders, drying up collections for the landlord.
Early in the influx crisis, Denver officials decided that city taxpayers would assume the humanitarian response, spending more than $80 million on the effort.
Officials in El Paso, Texas, have said that, while well intended, the promise of free shelter and onward travel may have worsened the crisis in Denver.
“There’s a pull factor created by this, and the policies in Denver for paying for onward destinations,” Irene Gutiérrez, executive director of El Paso County Community Services, has said.
Nearly 43,000 immigrants — many from South and Central America, particularly Venezuela — have come to Denver over the past two years. Plane, train and bus tickets indicate that about half have stayed.
