(The Center Square) – Members of the violent Venezuelan prison gang, Tren de Aragua (TdA), continue to expand criminal operations nationwide, including in the midwestern states of Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.
In Illinois, Chicago has long been plagued with illegal border crosser crime, serving as a major hub for drug trafficking operations run by the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel and transnational criminal organizations working with street gangs, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has reported.
As the border crisis escalated over the past few years, a record number of Venezuelan illegal border crossers, more than one million, were reported under the Biden administration. As hundreds of thousands were released into the U.S., including TdA members, violence spread nationwide, including in the so-called sanctuary city of Chicago.
Tren de Aragua gang members are known for violence, murder, kidnapping, extortion, bribery and human and drug trafficking and are linked to more than 100 law enforcement investigations nationwide.
An investigation by America First Legal found that Chicago law enforcement learned that TdA members were perpetrating human trafficking, sex exploitation, drug trafficking, and retail theft rings, also using extreme brutality – including dismemberment – to threaten their rivals.
TdA members have embedded themselves in South American migrant communities, with Chicago Police Department records revealing at least 30 arrests were of confirmed TdA members between Jan. 1, 2023, and Sept. 10, 2024, according to records obtained by AFL through Freedom of Information requests.
In October, AFL released its first report on TdA crime impacting Cook County, publishing records from the Cook County Sheriff’s Office. In November, it published data and documents from the Chicago Police Department and Illinois Governor’s Office related to TdA crime and city policies.
According to police arrest records obtained by CWB Chicago News, arrests of Venezuelan nationals in Chicago exploded by more than 2,500% under the Biden administration between 2021 and 2023. Chicago Police Department officers arrested six Venezuelan nationals in 2021, 26 in 2022 and 686 in 2023, according to the data. Venezuelan arrests in 2023 were up 11,333% from 2021 and up 2,538% from 2022, the outlet reported.
TdA crime doesn’t just stay in Chicago but has been found to be linked to multiple cities. Last month, an alleged TdA member operating in Chicago was arrested in Chattanooga, Tenn. in a sex trafficking crackdown, NBC 5 News Chicago reported.
This is after he illegally entered the U.S. in Eagle Pass, Texas, in July 2022, was processed for removal and released into the country instead of being detained, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. By February 2024, he was arrested by Cicero, Ill., police officers on multiple charges including aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, and subsequently released. In March, ICE arrested and detained him, nearly two years after ICE first released him into the country.
In Indiana, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department detectives busted a sex trafficking ring connected to TdA members allegedly engaged in forced prostitution with ties to a sex trafficking ring in Boston, Mass., authorities said, WTHR News reported.
In Wisconsin, a confirmed TdA member was arrested in Crawford County late last year on six charges including strangulation, false imprisonment, sexual assault and child abuse, WXOW News 19 reported.
Some reports by think tanks and on social media appear to confuse TdA with South American theft groups (SATG) operating in the Midwest. The SATG are primarily run by Columbian and Chilean nationals who either illegally entered the U.S. or exploited a visa program, The Center Square reported. Those targeting NFL and NBA players in Michigan and Minnesota have been confirmed to be part of the SATG, The Center Square reported.
Although TdA has established a stronghold in Colombia, Chile and Peru, authorities have yet to confirm TdA affiliation when making SATG announcements. Many of these cases are ongoing and SATG culprits remain at large.
The type of crimes and methodology used by the groups are different, authorities have found. SATG operatives target wealthy neighborhoods, burglarize homes and quickly leave the scene. TdA operatives entrench themselves in migrant communities, perpetrate human trafficking, forced prostitution, aggravated assault and murder, among other violent crimes.
The common trait SATG and TdA members share is they illegally entered the U.S. under the Biden administration and have been identified as top targets for removal by the Trump administration.
This article was originally published at www.thecentersquare.com
