Authorities arrested two members of the Venezuelan gang Torren de Aragua in Tennessee last week, prompting authorities to warn of the gang’s resurgence in the state.
On Nov. 19, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officers arrested Luis Alejandro, who was wanted on an outstanding warrant through Interpol, according to a Memphis Police Department spokesperson. Mr. Louis-Godoy was arrested.
ICE transferred the suspect to Louisiana for deportation. Additional details about his arrest were not available.
On Monday, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) officials announced the arrest of four people, including one member of Tren de Aragua, in a sex trafficking sting last week.
Human trafficking activity by Venezuelan gangs surges in major Tennessee cities
Torren de Aragua gang activity has been reported throughout Tennessee. (“Fox & Friends”)
The Tennessee Human Trafficking Task Force received information that led them to a hotel in Hamilton County, where law enforcement encountered the four suspects, who were participating in a sex trafficking operation. I confirmed that.
Three female suspects – Willimer Herrera Guedes, 29; Rebecca de los Juarez Lucena, 26 years old. and Idalbris Marcano Salas, 29, are charged with prostitution. Salas is also charged with multiple drug-related charges and one count of illegal weapon possession.
New report warns that bloodthirsty Venezuelan gangs’ footprints will remain in US for ‘decades’
The male suspect, Adelbis Rodríguez Carmona, 30, was charged with one count of solicitation of prostitution, multiple drug-related charges, and one count of illegal weapon possession. There is. TBI agents determined that Rodriguez-Carmona is a “known member of the Tren de Aragua (TDA), who is suspected of committing violent crimes in Chicago and New York City.”
“This is part of an ongoing active investigation and no information is available at this time,” Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Nashville Public Affairs Officer Mike Mears said in a statement to FOX News Digital. ” he said.
Four suspects, including members of Torren de Aragua, have been arrested in a sex trafficking sting in Hamilton County, Tennessee. (Hamilton County/Valerie Schrempp Hahn/After St. Louis Dispatch/Tribune News Service)
Upon his release, he remained in custody at the Hamilton County Jail on $125,000 bail.
The arrests came in the same week that TBI officials issued a warning about the growing number of TDA members in the state.
“This gang took advantage of (the border),” TBI Director David Rausch said on “Fox & Friends” on Nov. 22. Cartels have waged extremely violent and bloody battles. ”
WATCH: Traumatic Brain Injury Secretary David Rausch talks about Torren de Aragua
Rausch said the gang operates human trafficking operations in Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville and Chattanooga and has expanded to other criminal activities. The TBI director added that there are limits to how law enforcement can crack down on gang-related activity, especially when the suspect is not in immigration “detention.”
“If we encounter them and they have a detainer, we can take them into custody. But otherwise, all we can do is find out if they are breaking the law. All we have to do is monitor and ensure that we don’t. But that’s a challenge,” Rausch said, calling it an increasingly dangerous “cat-and-mouse game.”
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Mr. Rausch warned Tennessee Governor Bill Lee during a budget hearing about the resurgence of gangs in Tennessee’s major cities.
The Department of Homeland Security last month recommended that more than 100 immigrants it identified as possible ties to bloodthirsty Venezuelan gangs be placed on the FBI’s watch list, but the agency has more than 600 connections overall. It was reported that there is a possibility that
Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind and Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
