EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – The Mexican border state of Chihuahua is on alert, as it has received reports that several Venezuelan gang members have used the El Paso, Texas-Juarez, Mexico, corridor to enter the U.S.
“We have detected – thanks to collaboration with the United States – that a large number of people who belong to Tren de Aragua have passed through Chihuahua,” State Public Safety Director Gilberto Loya said on Monday.
The police chief said no murders or other acts of extreme violence can be attributed to Tren de Aragua locally but that its members have been linked to three homicides in Central Mexico.
“It is something that has set off (red) lights,” Loya said. The murders include the killing of two women and the violent death of one of their own gang members. “These people who lost their lives were possibly killed by Tren de Aragua.
“Seeing what is going on in (Central Mexico), we want to be ahead of the curve here in Chihuahua.”
The U.S. Treasury Department last month designated Tren de Aragua as a transnational criminal organization for engaging in criminal activities for profit such as human smuggling, drug trafficking, money laundering and “gender-based” violence – like forcing women into prostitution.
“Tren de Aragua leverages its transnational networks to traffic people, especially migrant women and girls, across borders for sex trafficking and debt bondage,” the Treasury Department said in its July 11 designation. “Tren de Aragua members often kill them and publicize their deaths as a threat to others.”
The U.S. government also is offering a $12 million reward for the three principal leaders of the gang, believe to be in hiding in South America.
Tren de Aragua members are suspects in the murder of Georgia college student Laken Riley and the shooting of two New York Police Department officers.
The government of Chihuahua last week invited a Chilean gang expert to brief its police commanders on the tactics used by Tren de Aragua to infiltrate countries outside Venezuela, where the gang began as a prison clique.
“They come in by networking with smaller local groups,” Loya said. “They keep a low profile – and this is important – because by the time authorities realize this, they are already there and not detected until caught committing a crime.”
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