On New Year's Eve, four men linked to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua were arrested while attempting to cross into Texas from Mexico. Texas Department of Public Safety troopers in Val Verde County saw a group of 22 trying to enter. Eleven were arrested for criminal trespass, including nine Venezuelan men planning to travel within Texas, according to Click2Houston.
Four men were arrested after interviews and a consensual search of their cellphones linked them to a gang. Social media confirmed their gang affiliations. The suspects were Segundo Ocando-Mejia (39), Pedro Luis Salazar-Cuervo (27), and 18-year-olds Antonio Joe Urruttia-Rojas and Levi Jesus Urrutia-Blanco. They were reportedly headed to San Antonio, Irving, and Corsicana. Texas Governor Abbott has launched a crackdown on this gang, which is labeled a foreign terrorist organization, as reported by Click2Houston.
Texas is cracking down on the Tren de Aragua gang, which started in a Venezuelan prison and spread across South America. The gang gained attention in 2018 for smuggling migrants. The governor's office noted that Ocando-Mejia's tattoos "may hold rank or leadership within the gang." Texas has deployed strike teams, arrested dozens of suspects, and offered rewards up to $5,000 for information leading to more arrests, as part of ongoing efforts to protect public safety, as stated by FOX 26 Houston.
