Texas law enforcement raided a vacant San Antonio apartment complex that was under the “control” of the notorious Tren de Aragua gang, which was using the building as a crime base, authorities said.
San Antonio Police Chief Chief McManus said a multi-agency task force cleared more than 300 vacant units at the Palatia Apartments on the city’s north edge Saturday morning. told reporters at a press conference,
According to police, SAPD had received multiple complaints from the apartment complex regarding narcotics, human trafficking, and threats to apartment workers.
“We had information that members of the international gang Tren de Agua were controlling the area and committing various crimes,” McManus said.
Twenty people were arrested, he said, four of whom were confirmed as members of Tren de Agua – including a man who is an “enforcer”.
Nineteen of those detained were charged. Authorities said many of those arrested had confirmed warrants.
The apartments were searched by a joint team of SAPD, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and officers from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms and Homeland Security Investigations.
The arrests follow a weeks-long investigation as part of SAPD’s “Operation Aurora” initiative, a broader effort to disrupt Tren de Aragua’s influence in Texas.
Authorities believe Tren de Aragua is involved in prostitution, cocaine sales, and other violent crimes in San Antonio. According to News4SA,
McManus said Saturday that the gang had been operating in the area for “several months.”
He said he has identifying tattoos and is known to wear the color red.
“We assure the community and members of the public that we are committed to their safety and above all this is the TDA issue that has become very public recently,” McManus said.
Saturday’s operation was the first by law enforcement at a known gang location, but the chief said, “We have other locations that we’re going to be hitting as well.”
“We are with you,” he told the gang members. “We’re coming for you and we know where you are.”
More than 100 suspected members of the Tren de Aragua (TDA) were part of the group that carried out a violent attack at the border in El Paso, Texas, in March.
Since then, the gang is establish a foothold across the countryReportedly occupying apartments in Colorado, occupying hotels near the Texas border in El Paso and opening fire on police in New York.
Tren de Agua is known nationally trapping women in sex traffickingThey were forced to sell their bodies in American cities to pay exorbitant trafficking fees, according to a leaked law enforcement memo obtained by The Post last month.
In the Big Apple, Tren de Aragua is trying to recruit foot soldiers to force women into sex trafficking to finance the gang’s activities.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has designated the prison gang a foreign terrorist organization.
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