Texas Border City Hotel Shut Down After Alleged Tren de Aragua Gang Activity

A Texas judge shut down a hotel in the border city of El Paso following reports from city officials regarding criminal activity involving the Tren de Aragua Venezuelan gang. City officials complained in a lawsuit against the owners of the Gateway Hotel after responding to nearly 700 calls for service to the address.

The El Paso County Attorney’s Office filed a lawsuit against the owners of the Gateway Hotel, alleging the property owners have been operating the hotel without a valid certificate of occupancy for approximately six years, the El Paso Times reported. The lawsuit seeks to shut down the operation of the hotel on the basis of public nusciance laws after police received 693 calls for service to the property.

“There should be concern due to the establishment and rise of the Venezuelan Criminal Organization ‘Tren de Aragua’ at the Gateway Hotel. We discovered several Venezuelans have the tattoo identifiers of Tren de Aragua.”

Court records show that El Paso Police Department officials alleged the “hotel has become a hub for suspected gang activity, particularly members of the Venezuelan criminal organization Tren de Aragua,” the Times article stated.

Police claim the owners of the Gateway Hotel have not attempted to control the illegal activity and allow drug use, gang activity, and illegal dumping to continue despite warnings from police. Officers called the hotel a threat to public safety.

Dangerous activity alleged to be conducted in the hotel include a man yielding a hatched, people wielding knives, and at least one incident of a gun being fired in the hotel, the New York Post reported. Surveillance video screenshots released by the County Attorney’s Office show the chaos in the hallways of the facility.

County Attorney Christina Sanchez told the news outlet the videos show “people partying … drinking, smoking and dancing provocatively while children are present … at least one gun being shot, … men holding knives and another man with a hatchet assaulting people and causing damage to the hotel in front of a security guard,” the Post stated.

Claims of Tren de Aragua gang involvement arose after police discovered several Venezuelan migrants with the gang’s tattoos on display, KVIA ABC7 reported. “”There should be concern due to the establishment and rise of the Venezuelan Criminal Organization ‘Tren de Aragua’ at the Gateway Hotel. We discovered several Venezuelans have the tattoo identifiers of Tren de Aragua,” an El Paso Police officer wrote in the affidavit for the lawsuit.

Texas 120th District Court Judge Maria Salas-Mendoza granted a temporary injunction earlier this week, ordering the hotel be shut down pending a full hearing on the county’s lawsuit. That hearing is scheduled for December 9, the El Paso Times stated.