A raid in a New York City apartment building located members of the Venezuelan migrant gang Tren de Aragua. The New York Post reports, the gang was staying in a Bronx apartment building on the edge of Crotona Park when they were found thanks to the tracking of one of their member’s ankle monitors which led authorities straight to their hideout.
The task force leading the raid on December 5 included agents from Homeland Security and the NYPD. Seven alleged gang members were arrested, including the 28-year-old, Jarwin Valero-Calderon, who was wearing the ankle monitor.
One law enforcement source reportedly commented on the arrest saying, “better late than never” after Jarwin Valero-Calderon was finally nabbed. “The thing about ankle monitors is you have to actually monitor them to be effective,” the source said.
“Valero-Calderon entered the US at Eagle Pass, Texas, in August 2022 and was released with a court date,” The Post reports. Valero-Calderon has a significant rap sheet, and even reportedly was a no-show for a mandatory check-in with immigration authorities, marking him as a fugitive, and still managed to remain free when subsequently arrested in Florida in February of this year for “fraud, larceny and resisting arrest.”
Most of the gang members who were arrested in the bust had multiple warrants after they crossed the Mexico-US border. After previous arrests, however, they were released amid a pending immigration hearing. Most of the previous arrests, reported by The Post, were related to shoplifting and stolen property.
The raid discovering Tren de Aragua was a significant blow to the gang which has been terrorizing the streets of New York City since gaining a stronghold there among others. Members of the violent gang made their way into the United States and large cities while sneaking in among the enormous waves of migrants that crossed the border claiming asylum.
According to The Post, “Law enforcement officials said the gang has recruited inside tax-funded migrant shelters and runs violent theft and robbery crews while peddling drugs, guns and women in the five boroughs.”
Former Denver ICE chief John Fabbricatore said he thinks that people are starting to realize the seriousness and severity of Tren de Aragua’s presence.
All of the illegal immigrants from the December 5 raid in the Bronx were identified as members of Tren de Aragua. The gang, and their underaged members, have garnered headlines as they continued to defy the justice system, managing to get released pending court appearances.
