ALABAMA - Following Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's comments on Sept. 17 in which he declared Venezuelan-born gang Tren de Aragua a "foreign terrorist organization", a district attorney in Texas is saying that, despite the recent cases of activity by the gang in Texas, El Paso is not "ground zero" for the criminal group's activity.
Abbott's decision to label Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization allows officials in Texas to increase resources dedicated to dealing with the group, including the creation of a dedicated task force.
District Attorney Bill Hicks addressed the growing presence of the gang in Texas, particularly in El Paso, arguing that other cities across the country have also seen Tren de Aragua activity.
"We have what we believe to be TDA activity in El Paso, but so does Dallas. So does Houston. So does Colorado. So other communities are experiencing TDA activity," Hicks said.
Hicks highlighted the challenges authorities face when it comes to dealing with Tren de Aragua, saying that the Venezuelan gang poses a unique challenge for law enforcement as there is not a lot of information about the gang or who is in it.
"We do not have a criminal gang database to identify who is and who is not a TDA gang member. As the governor mentioned, the Texas Department of Public Safety is going to initiate a from-scratch gang database," Hicks said.
Designated as a transnational criminal organization by the U.S. Treasury Department last month, Tren de Aragua is known for engaging in criminal activities for profit such as human smuggling, drug trafficking, money laundering and gender-based violence.
As encounters continue to rise in the U.S., Mexican authorities are also operation on high alert. Members of Tren de Aragua have been been linked to three homicides in Central Mexico, allegedly killing two women as well as one of their own gang members.
Due to the rapid growth by the Venezuelan-born gang across all of South America, Hicks said the federal government is working closely with other countries to gather information for the new database.
"Texas law enforcement is working with federal law enforcement. Federal law enforcement is working with Mexican law enforcement officials. They're also working with Colombian law enforcement officials, Peruvian law enforcement officials. International law enforcement officials are cooperating, trying to address TDA activity," Hicks said.
In recent months, members of the Tren de Aragua gang have been accused of committing violent crimes all across the United States, including the murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley in March and the shooting of two NYPD cops during an arrest in June.
According to law enforcement documents and prosecutors' complaints, there are more than 70 cases in which Tren de Aragua is mentioned.
From that total, Customs and Border Patrol in Texas identified 58 as gang members between the fiscal year of 2023 and last May. The rest of the total appears in complaints made by victims or arrest reports that point to the possible involvement of the suspects with the transnational criminal organization.
Last month, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on the criminal organization, making it easier to freeze assets and restrict their travel as well as prompting U.S. federal agencies to prioritize the threat posed by Tren de Aragua.
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