20 Suspected Tren de Aragua Gang Members Arrested in Texas Border-City Hotel

Texas Department of Public Safety troopers arrested more than 20 suspected Tren de Aragua gang members. The members of the violent Venezuelan gang are charged with a variety of state crimes, including human smuggling, prostitution, and drug possession in connection with operations at the Gateway Hotel in El Paso, Texas.

Texas DPS troopers went to the Gateway Hotel in El Paso, where they arrested more than 20 members of the Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang, KVIA ABC7 in El Paso reported. The move follows Governor Greg Abbott’s designation of the violent Venezuelan prison gang as a foreign terrorist organization.

DPS officials told the local ABC affiliate that the TdA gang members arrested are charged with human smuggling, prostitution, and possession of illegal drugs.

Following the governor’s designation of TdA as a foreign terrorist organization, the governor offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the identification and arrest of TdA gang members, Breitbart Texas reported.

“Tren de Aragua has spread terror and carnage in every country they’ve been in, and Texas will not allow them to gain a foothold in our state,” Governor Abbott said in a statement this week. “Today, I am announcing a reward for any information that leads to the identification and arrest of known or suspected members of this gang who have been or are involved in heinous crimes. Texas will not let these thugs use our state as a base of operations to terrorize our citizens.”

“The recent entry and expansion of the vicious Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, is a dangerous and deadly problem facing our state and nation,” Abbott explained during a September 17 press conference. “Our top focus is the safety and security of all Texans.”

The move by Governor Abbott follows news of violent activity by alleged TdA gang members that forced a Texas district court judge to order the closing of a hotel in El Paso, Breitbart Texas reported. City officials complained in a lawsuit against the owners of the Gateway Hotel after responding to nearly 700 calls for service to the address.

During Fiscal Year 2020, President Donald Trump’s last full year in office, Border Patrol agents apprehended only 465 Venezuelan migrants who crossed from Mexico into the five Texas-based sectors. During the first year of the Biden-Harris administration, a dramatic increase in crossings led to the apprehension of nearly 68,000 Venezuelan migrants.

From FY21-FY24 year-to-date, Border Patrol agents apprehended nearly 499,000 Venezuelan migrants who illegally entered the United States in the five Texas-based Border Patrol Sectors, Texas DPS officials reported.

“Our goal is to defend Texas from the growing threat of the gang,” Abbott concluded in his address on Monday. “We will not let them use Texas as a base of operations to terrorize our citizens.”

“They have a target on their back, and we are going after them,” the governor stated. “Texas is the wrong state for them to try to do business in.”