Ten alleged members and associates of the bloodthirsty Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) have been indicted in a massive arms and drug-running operation spanning at least six states, with prosecutors claiming they planned to expand internationally to Colombia.
On Wednesday, police in New York City reported that one of the accused violent migrant gangbangers broke an NYPD officer’s arm during an arrest.
Authorities seized 34 illegal guns linked to the suspects, including AR-15 assault rifles and a Glock 9mm with a trigger modification that converts it to an automatic, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.
Katz claimed that TDA gang members were also selling deadly drugs such as pink cocaine, a designer street drug made up of ketamine, MDMA, and ecstasy.
All ten migrants, including two women, are from Venezuela and entered the country illegally through the southern border, according to police.
This subset of the gang was led by two Venezuelan nationals who moved to New York City two years ago and formed a gun-running crew that included other foreign nationals.
The alleged ringleader, Enyerbert Blanco, 24, has been in custody in Florida since October after being charged in connection with a human trafficking case involving a 15-year-old girl, Katz said.
“We allege that as members and associates, they trafficked weapons and made money in furtherance of TdA’s agenda and as they seek to establish themselves in New York City, we are individually dismantling them,” Katz told the court.
Katz stated that the investigation, dubbed Operation Train Derail, began over a year ago and was carried out by her office and the NYPD.
Five of the ten are charged with two counts of criminal sale of a firearm and could face up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
The remaining defendants have been charged with various crimes, including firearm possession. They face up to 15 years in prison. All ten have been charged with conspiracy to possess and sell illegal firearms in New York City.
Four are currently in custody in New York City, while four more are in prisons outside the state, including two in Texas and two in Florida. The rest are still on the loose. According to Katz, their illegal operation extended into Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Colorado.
Katz declined to say whether ICE would deport the suspects, insisting that she was treating the operation as a gun-running case.
She claimed that the group was brazen about its gun dealings.
“On one occasion, the defendant transported an AR-15 wrapped in a black garbage bag for sale in Bronx County. This purchase took place at 3:45 p.m. in front of a residential building.
Five other firearm purchases occurred between October 30 and December 10 in a Target parking lot in College Point, Queens.
An assault weapon typically costs between $2,500 and $2,800, while loaded operable handguns sell for between $1,200 and $1,800, according to her.
“This group was extremely entrepreneurial. “They really made sure that this business ran like a clock,” Katz explained. “They stole firearms recovered from burglaries and car break-ins in other states.
They used rental vehicles to transport iron up the pipeline and sell it to people in New York City. They were aware that they could make money in New York, and they even considered smuggling them into Columbia if this investigation was successful.”
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch stated that the injured officer will undergo surgery after this week and that separate charges will be filed.
“TDA is a dangerous transnational gang that has specialized in murder, trafficking, and mayhem,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch stated. “The NYPD will always work with our federal and our local partners to take down international gangs like TDA, who would wreak havoc on this city.”
Some of the TDA members indicted include Wrallan Meza, 27, Leoner Aguilera, 21, Brayant Aguilar, 21, Rosemary Sanchez, 24, Enyerling Zambrano, 29, Alejandro Rondon, 19, and Oscar Sosa, 31.
The arrest in Queens occurred a day after immigration raids in the Bronx resulted in the arrest of gang member Anderson Zambrano-Pacheco, 26, by the Drug Enforcement Administration and US Homeland Security Investigations.
Zambrano-Pacheco is wanted by Aurora, Colorado, police for first-degree burglary and menacing with a firearm in connection with a videotaped incident on August 18 in which he and five other armed men are accused of breaking into an apartment at gunpoint.
According to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Zambrano-Pacheco was also involved in a gun and weapon exchange and attempted to purchase grenades. According to police, he has also been charged with kidnapping, extortion, and menacing.
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