Free Republic

A notorious Venezuelan gang is extending its tentacles into the U.S. on the back of the Biden-Harris administration’s border crisis, and experts say that immigration authorities have no way of identifying the criminal group’s members before they hit American soil. The gang, known as Tren de Aragua, has made headlines in recent weeks with its criminal activities in multiple states, according to multiple reports. Yet, border authorities have virtually zero tools to detect Venezuelan migrants’ affiliations with the gang, as the U.S.’ diplomatic relationship with the beleaguered country is effectively on ice, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “We...

Two federal judges on Wednesday blocked the removal of Venezuelan nationals and alleged TdA gang members facing deportation under the Alien Enemies Act after the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case. US District Judge for the Southern District of Texas, Fernando Rodriguez, Jr., a Trump appointee, issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) through April 23 or until he issues an order. “Respondents are enjoined from transferring, relocating, or removing J.A.V., J.G.G., W.G.H., or any other person that Respondents claim are subject to removal under the Proclamation, from the El Valle Detention Center; and Respondents are enjoined from...

A new report released by the Heritage Foundation offers the first comprehensive English language look at the massive Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) whose cruel exploits in the U.S. have been making national headlines. The verdict? According to the report’s author, Joseph Humire, the threat America faces from Tren de Aragua is much worse than most people think.... American media coverage and politicians have cast Tren de Aragua as a group of simple thugs and criminals. However, Humire’s report emphasizes that Tren de Aragua is a state-sponsored transnational criminal organization sponsored by and embedded in the Venezuelan socialist government.......

The Tren de Aragua rose to power in Nicolas Maduro’s anarchotyranny. Now they’re in Florida. Last week, El American broke the news that members of the Tren de Aragua, the largest criminal organization in Venezuela (after the government), had crossed the southern border and were living in Orlando, Florida. The news came a week after Breitbart had claimed that Venezuelan criminals were crossing the border to live in the U.S.—more than likely continuing their criminal enterprises. The source told El American that the criminals were living in Bogotá, Colombia, and were able to change their identity by bribing Venezuelan officials....

Tocorón once had it all. A nightclub, swimming pools, tigers, a lavish suite and plenty of food. This was not a Las Vegas-style resort, but it felt like it for some of the thousands who until recently lived in luxury in this sprawling prison in northern Venezuela. Here, between parties, concerts and weeks-long visits from wives and children, is the birthplace of the Tren de Aragua, a dangerous gang that has gained global notoriety after U.S. President Donald Trump put it at the center of his anti-immigrant narrative. But kidnappings, extortion and other crimes were planned, ordered or committed from...

Federal authorities arrested 68 members of the notorious gang Tren De Aragua this week, according to a new report from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). “In less than 100 days, the Trump Administration has arrested 394 members of the Tren De Aragua—a vicious gang known for human trafficking, kidnapping, drug trafficking, and other heinous acts terrorizing American communities,” DHS stated on March 21. Tren De Aragua originated in the Venezuelan state of Aragua and later spread to other South American nations and the United States. On his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed a presidential action that...

“They’re coming.” That’s what Miguel, a Venezuelan migrant who came to America with his wife and two daughters, told me about the gang, Tren de Aragua, earlier this year. “And they’re very bad.” The past few days have shown how far the Venezuelan gang appears willing to go. In Aurora, Colorado, Tren de Aragua has allegedly terrorized the local community. According to Mayor Mike Coffman, at least two buildings in the city “have fallen to” a group of armed men, suspected to be gang members. “This is an organized criminal effort. Whether it’s Tren de Aragua, that remains to be...

To be honest, I’d never much thought about the Ebola lockdowns in Sierra Leone and Liberia in 2014 and 2015. Within public health, the Sierra Leone and Liberia lockdowns were an early illustration of the fact that lockdowns were ineffective, but governments of developing nations sometimes do strange things; the idea that these lockdowns might have greater geopolitical significance never occurred to me. This changed dramatically when I began studying social media activity about lockdowns before 2020. Prior to 2014, and from 2016 to 2019, there’s virtually no social media activity about lockdowns. However, this pattern changes abruptly during one...

It is unclear whether the cause of the syndrome is viral or bacterial – a distinction with implications for treatment – although autopsies have indicated that those who died were suffering from other complications, such as Chikungunya.Venezuelan hemorrhagic fever (VHF) is endemic in the two states of Portuguesa and Barinas, but transmission from person-to-person is uncommon.While samples have been sent to the Venezuelan National Institute of Health, the results have not yet been released publically and there is no suggestion from health officials that VHF is behind this particular outbreak.One doctor, who wishes to remain anonymous, attended a meeting last...

Venezuela’s Vice President Tareck El Aissami, an official of Syrian-Lebanese origin sanctioned by the United States for his connections to drug trafficking, is a “huge” monetary contributor to Iran’s narco-terrorist proxy Hezbollah. Citing sources on the ground in Lebanon during an event late last week hosted on Capitol Hill by the Center for a Secure Free Society (SFS), Dr. Vanessa Neumann, a leading expert on drug cartels and terrorist groups in Latin America, told Breitbart News, “Tareck El Aissami is one of Hezbollah’s great bagmen, a sort of huge funder, and the money goes through the networks, and then, as...

Remember when Trump said countries were emptying their prisons and sending them to us? Remember the reaction? Trump claimed that South American countries are emptying their prisons and “mental institutions” and sending those people to the U.S., but immigration experts tell us there is no evidence of that happening. Uh huh. The same people tell us the border is secure. Meet Tren de AraguaTren de Aragua, the Venezuelan criminal gang spreading terror from Chile to Colombia The organization, which is involved in crimes such as human trafficking, sexual exploitation and drug trafficking, is extending its tentacles in eight countries in...

Members of the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua have been given the “green light” to attack and open fire on cops in Denver, a federal memo obtained by The Post reveals. The gang is already tied to hundreds of crimes, including the shootings of two NYPD cops who were trying to arrest one of its members in June. “Credible human sources from Colorado provided information on TdA [Tren de Aragua] giving a ‘green light’ to fire on or attack law enforcement,” said the memo, from the Homeland Security Investigations office in Chicago “As you may know, we have a...

The largest growing criminal organization in the world has infiltrated its way into the United States, said an El Paso FBI agent. The Tren de Aragua, or the “Aragua Train,” gained notoriety after its founding in 2012 by Hector Guerrero, alias “Niño Guerrero” or Warrior Kid, in the state of Aragua located in the north-central region of Venezuela. Operating initially from Tocorón prison in Venezuela, the gang made headlines after 11,000 police officers raided the prison back in September, uncovering a zoo, nightclub, swimming pools, and a children’s playground. What they did not find was any sign of Guerrero, the...

[MercoPress.com] VENEZUELA : Mysterious outbreak of hemorrhagic fever syndrome in Venezuela kills ten "An outbreak of a mysterious hemorrhagic fever syndrome in the Venezuelan state of Aragua and the country’s capital Caracas has left ten people dead in the last three weeks." Similar to Ebola, this syndrome causes patients to experience high fever, skin rashes and bleeding. It has been described as an aggressive disease that leads to a fatal deterioration of health within 72 hours. Doctors have urged government authorities to declare a state of emergency in Aragua state; however they have received resistance from a surprising source. The...