Members of a violent Venezuelan prison gang inside the U.S. have been given the green light to attack and open fire on police in Denver, the New York Post reported Tuesday, citing a memo from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
"Credible human sources from Colorado provided information on TdA [Tren de Aragua] giving a 'green light' to fire on or attack law enforcement," stated the memo from DHS's investigations office in Chicago. "As you may know, we have a TdA presence here in Chicago, so please be vigilant as you encounter TdA members or affiliates during your investigative and operational activities."
The gang, whose name means "The Aragua Train" — a reference to the Aragua region in northern Venezuela — has infiltrated the U.S. by sending members posing as asylum seekers across the southern border, the Post reported. Denver, a self-proclaimed sanctuary city for illegal immigrants, has received 42,000 migrants in the past year — more per capita than any other U.S. city, according to the Post — and many are asylum seekers from Venezuela.
The gang is tied to hundreds of crimes, allegedly including the shootings of two New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers who were trying to arrest one of its members in June, the Post reported. Venezuelan Bernardo Raul Castro Mata, 19, who is accused of shooting the NYPD officers on June 3, allegedly told police he was recruited by the Venezuelan gang's Big Apple coordinator to join its "snatch and grab" operation of moped thieves.
Castro Mata, who reportedly crossed the southern border into Texas illegally in July 2023, allegedly said he was encouraged to get gang tattoos to prove his allegiance. Castro Mata also told police the gang has been smuggling guns into New York's migrant shelters in food delivery bags.
The Border Patrol began tracking the group only last year and has caught 70 of its members, the Post reported, citing federal data. But many are getting past law enforcement and vetting processes at the border because younger members are careful not to get gang tattoos or other identifiers.
Right now, "it's far too easy for criminals to enter the U.S.," a Border Patrol source told the Post. "We have zero access to other nations' criminal databases and with this administration's uselessness in deterring these criminals, they will keep entering undetected."
On July 11, the Biden administration designated the gang as a transnational criminal organization and offered up to a total of $12 million in rewards for information leading to the arrests and/or convictions of three of its leaders: Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero, whose alias is "Niño Guerrero" (up to $5 million reward); Yohan Jose Romero, whose alias is "Johan Petrica" (up to $4 million reward); and Giovanny San Vicente, whose aliases are "Giovanny," "Viejo Viejo," and "El Viejo" (up to $3 million reward).