The violent Venezuelan super gang Tren de Aragua has expanded to take foothold in 16 states across the US, Homeland Security officials have warned.
Tren de Aragua (TdA) territory now covers half of America’s population, posing challenges for law enforcement agencies across the US who are trying to combat the mob’s wave of crime.
The gang has spread its tentacles across Virginia, Washington DC, Montana and Wyoming, according to an internal Homeland Security department intelligence memo obtained by The New York Post.
Officials warn that TdA’s arrival in the US capital and nearby Virginia coincides with ‘increases in migrant populations’ in the area, the memo states.
TdA is reportedly targeting DC because the city provides easy travel access to wealthy northern Virginian suburbs where gangsters are carrying out thefts, robberies and assaults.
The mob’s bloodthirsty members have also increased their ‘violent tendencies’ and has become more engaged with ‘lower-level fraud and theft schemes’ that allow them to send stolen funds ‘back to South America as a means of financing additional criminal enterprises’, according to the intelligence document.
Homeland security officials warn that as the ‘population of Venezuelan nationals continues to increase, the potential for violent TdA migrants is highly probable’.
In addition to its expanded territory, TdA also holds footholds in New York, New Jersey, California, Florida, Illinois, Georgia, Louisiana, Nevada, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin and Colorado.
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