Greg Abbott designates Venezuelan gang as a top threat to Texas

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has directed state police to focus on a violent Venezuelan crime syndicate that has gained attention amid a divisive presidential election.
Tren de Aragua started as a South American prison gang but has grown into an international organization that dominates human trafficking and has proliferated in Texas in recent months, Abbott said Monday.
Abbott proclaimed Tren de Aragua, considered among the most dangerous and organized gangs operating in Texas, as a “Tier 1″ threat and directed law enforcement to disrupt its operations in the state.
“They’re the worst of the worst,” Abbott said during a news conference in Houston with Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw and Texas border czar Mike Banks.
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Other gangs previously given Tier 1 status have included the Texas Syndicate and the Mexican Mafia, two notorious prison gangs, as well as the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, the Crips, the Bloods and the Latin Kings.
The designation makes gangs a law enforcement priority and directs DPS to run targeted enforcement operations and coordinate efforts with local authorities. Members of Tier 1 gangs can face enhanced penalties for crimes, including stiffer sentences.
Abbott said he considered the gang to be a foreign terrorist organization and said a database and strike force will keep track of its members.
Abbott has made combating illegal immigration a focus while in office, speaking on the subject at the Republican National Convention and pushing billions of dollars in taxpayer money toward Operation Lone Star border-security efforts.
The proclamation came days after Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, speaking Friday at a Las Vegas rally, said if he were elected, he would launch a federal task force to “crush” the Venezuelan prison gang. He also vowed to “liberate Aurora,” pointing to conservative media reports saying the gang had taken over an apartment complex in Aurora, Colo. City officials have called the reports exaggerated.
During his Sept. 10 debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump named Aurora as a city that’s been taken over by immigrants. Two city officials, who initially circulated the story after a landlord complained about criminal activity at an apartment complex, said there is no evidence Tren de Aragua controls anything in the Denver suburb.
U.S. Rep. Jason Crow, a Democrat who represents Aurora, said on X: “These claims have led to a narrative that makes it harder for law enforcement to do their job and incited dangerous rhetoric against our immigrant community.”
Abbott, questioned about Tren de Aragua during Monday’s news conference, said the announcement had nothing to do with politics or the presidential campaign.
“I pointed out several months ago, we began the arrests of TDA [Tren de Aragua] or suspected TDA members in the state of Texas,” Abbott said. “With the increased flow, we’ve had to not only expand our efforts, but add to the crackdown by doing things like declaring them a foreign terrorist organization and using enhanced tools.”
Abbott said Venezuelan immigrants should not automatically be assumed to be gang members.
McCraw said the Venezuelan government will not share its database of known gang members, making it necessary for law enforcement to identify them in other ways.
The gang is believed to have several thousand members in Venezuela and other countries. Abbott did not estimate how many are believed to be operating in Texas.
A hotel in El Paso has been temporarily shut down after local authorities filed a lawsuit alleging it’s a public nuisance. Undocumented immigrants and gang members were arrested, including an unspecified number of suspected members of the Venezuelan gang, earlier this summer on charges including assault, drugs and prostitution, Abbott said.
To be designated a Tier 1 gang in Texas, an organization must be violent, far-reaching and have a structured hierarchy.
“The Tren De Aragua gangsters are like cockroaches,” McCraw said Monday. “They multiply quickly. Small intrusions into communities become infestations if we do not aggressively pursue these Venezuelan thugs.”