Violent Venezuelan migrant activity has grown worse in Colorado, where reports of an apartment building commandeered by a Venezuelan gang garnered national headlines for weeks. Now, some gang members are resorting to home invasions, with 14 arrested this week following a raid in partnership with state and local authorities.
The home invasion took place at an apartment in Aurora, a major municipality 30 minutes west of Denver, where hundreds or thousands of migrants have scattered after being dispersed by authorities in the capital city.
Many landed there, including some migrants affiliated with Tren de Aragua, or TdA, a sprawling gang headquartered in Venezuela that counts more than 5,000 members across North and South America.
Their motto is “real until death,” or “real hasta la muerte,” a reminder that they feel “no accountability” to the police, one furious resident told Fox News back in August. In its latest report, Fox details “armed Venezuelan gang members roaming the halls” who, at one point, took two individuals hostage.
After taking control of the apartment, gang members transferred the two hostages to another unit in the building, where they were “threatened and bound,” according to police.
One victim “suffered a non-life threatening stab wound” while authorities are working to determine whether the latest incident is related to the TdA, or if the suspects are connected to another Venezuelan gang.
ARMED HOME INVASION IN AURORA — TRUMP WAS RIGHT
14 VENEZUELAN GANG MEMBERS ARRESTEDpic.twitter.com/gvZplKXVs5
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) December 17, 2024
In October, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and its director, Alejandro Mayorkas, issued an alert that it was seeking the whereabouts of more than 600 individuals who recently entered the U.S. and are suspected of having ties to violent Venezuelan gangs. Only 100 of those individuals have been concretely tied to specific gangs, though others could be witnesses or third-party participants in some of the violence that has destabilized Latin America and led millions of migrants to cross illegally into the U.S.
“DHS has an ongoing operation to crack down on gang members through re-screening certain individuals previously encountered, in addition to the rigorous screening and vetting at the border,” a DHS spokesperson told NBC News at the time. “All individuals confirmed or suspected to be gang members are referred for criminal prosecution or detained and placed into expedited removal.”
The New York Post has previously linked TdA to at least 100 crimes across the nation. Aurora City Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky told the network she is convinced “without a doubt that there is sex trafficking now going on” in the building. At one point, she explained, the conditions in the building became so bad that she and other members of the city council convened emergency measures to relocate residents to other homes for their own safety. John Fabbricatore, a Republican congressional candidate who assisted in the effort, told Fox, “I literally had to borrow from everybody I know to get into a new place. And it’s every bit of money I had.” Jurinsky said it would have been impossible to get residents the resources they need without the spotlight shined on the problem.
