Cross-Border Crime: Venezuelan Gang Members Arrested in Distant Location

(The Center Square) – Members of the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua are being apprehended thousands of miles away from the border in Texas, where they entered the US illegally.

The notorious Venezuelan prison gang is well-known for planning assassinations, bribery and money laundering operations, trafficking in drugs and weapons, and kidnappings for ransom. Republican senators from Florida, Marco Rubio and Maria Elvira Salazar, urged the president to formally label Tren de Aragua as a transnational criminal organization in March.

“Tren de Aragua is an invading criminal army that originated in a Venezuelan prison and has spread their chaos and brutality to small towns and cities in the United States,” they claimed. “They will unleash an unparalleled reign of terror if left uncontrolled, replicating the destruction it has already wrought in communities across Central and South America, most notably in Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru. Tren de Aragua’s operations are extensive and include, among other atrocities, kidnapping, extortion, drug and people trafficking, and murder.

Members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua were recently taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE-ERO) in Chicago and New York City; however, attempts to deport them were thwarted by regional or national laws.

May 10th, ICE-ERO-Johan Jose Cardenas Silva, wanted by Peruvian police for conspiracy, assault, and aggravated theft, was taken into custody by agents in New York City. This occurred two months after he was detained and charged with multiple felonies and firearm offenses by New York City Police Department officers in March.

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Director of the ICE-ERO New York City Field Office Kenneth Genalo stated, “This international fugitive thought he could waltz into the United States to not only evade justice in other countries, but to continue his criminality with impunity.”

“His membership in a violent international criminal organization and his history of lawless behavior clearly demonstrate that he is a serious threat to the public safety.”

Cardenas was freed from an ICE detention facility in October 2023, in defiance of Genalo’s allegations.

He was detained by Border Patrol authorities on October 4, 2022, after breaking into the country illegally in Del Rio, Texas. They discovered that he had entered the country illegally and gave him a notice and an order for his expedited departure.

He was given a notice to appear before an immigration judge by ICE-ERO-San Antonio agents on January 19, 2023, and in March of the same year, the immigration judge issued an order for his removal from the country.

He wasn’t taken out. ICE claims that he was instead released from the Stewart County Detention Center on October 5, 2023, “on an order of supervision to report to New York City; however, he never reported as directed.”

He did travel to New York City, but on March 27 he was taken into custody by NYPD officers and charged with “acting in a manner to injure a child less than 17; criminal possession of a weapon-second degree: loaded firearm; criminal possession weapon-second degree: loaded firearm on school grounds.”

Despite his criminal background, the Bronx Criminal Court arraigned him that same day and freed him on his own recognizance before ICE-ERO could submit another immigration detainer. “ERO New York City was prohibited from arresting Cardenas upon his release due to the Protect Our Courts Act,” ICE stated.

Cardenas allegedly committed more crimes after that and was taken into custody once more. He was detained and accused of “grand larceny in the fourth degree: value property greater than $1,000 and petit larceny” by the Nassau County Police Department on April 1. A district court found him guilty within a month and gave him a 60-day jail sentence.

Before being arrested and taken by ICE, he was being held in a local detention institution. He is still being held by ICE as he awaits removal hearings. Additionally, Cardenas’s status as an international fugitive wanted by Peruvian authorities with an October 2018 arrest warrant was communicated to ICE officials.

Chi-town, ICE-ERO-In March, Chicago police detained a second Venezuelan member of Tren de Aragua, who was the focus of an investigation by the department over a drive-by gunshot in the Little Italy district of Chicago.

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This came following his initial arrest in 2022 for entering the nation illegally in the vicinity of Eagle Pass, Texas.

Adelvis Rodriguez-Carmona was first taken into custody by Border Patrol authorities on July 7, 2022, close to Eagle Pass, and was then subject to removal procedures. After being granted entry into the nation on his own recognizance, he was instructed to appear before an immigration judge, but he neglected to do so. A final order for his removal in absentia was issued by an immigration judge on July 7, 2023, one year later.

On February 24, 2024, he was taken into custody by Cicero Police Department officers in Illinois on charges of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, possessing adult-use cannabis in a motor vehicle without a license or insurance, and driving without a firearms identification card. Later on, he was set free.

A few of weeks later, on March 11, ICE-ERO agents apprehended him without a hitch. He is being held while awaiting immigration removal procedures at the Dodge County Detention Facility run by ICE in Juneau, Wisconsin.

“The citizens of our communities were seriously threatened by this noncitizen from Venezuela,” stated Raymond Hernandez, Assistant Field Office Director of ICE-ERO Chicago. “He not only demonstrated a readiness to fire a pistol in public without authorization, but he is also an officially recognized member of an international street gang. ERO Chicago will keep making public safety a top priority by getting rid of these dangers from our streets.

“Tren de Aragua has plunged communities into chaos,” according to warnings from Rubio and Salazar in Ecuador, Colombia, Chile, and Peru. “They have sowed instability and fear, undermining innocent civilians’ safety and security as well as the legitimacy of government institutions.” .. We cannot allow our residents to suffer at the hands of these groups, nor can we allow our cities to serve as their battlegrounds.”