Feds arrest 22 suspected Tren de Aragua gang members in Bronx, Brooklyn raids

Federal authorities arrested 22 suspected members of the vicious migrant Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang earlier this month in New York City. At least seven of the violent gang had secretly taken over an apartment complex in the Bronx located next to a daycare facility, while 15 others were captured in Brooklyn. The raid occurred on Dec. 5 after federal agents tracked one of the gang member's court-ordered ankle monitors to the hideout, the New York Post reported.

Among those arrested included Jarwin Valdero-Calderon, 28, a Venezuelan illegal migrant who was placed on supervised release despite a federal deportation order, a criminal conviction in Nassau County, and at least three more criminal busts, a law enforcement source told the outlet.

"Better late than never," the source said, who questioned why the gang member was granted supervised release in the first place. "The thing about ankle monitors is you have to actually monitor them to be effective," he quipped.

The violent TdA gang has recently been terrorizing cities across the country, seizing apartment buildings and engaging in a variety of criminal acts, such as shooting at police officers, robberies, assaults, and smuggling firearms into migrant shelters. The majority of the gang members arrested in the five-story Bronx apartment raid were the subject of multiple warrants after illegally crossing the US-Mexico border, were captured, and then released with a court date, law enforcement sources said. They took advantage of the Biden-Harris administration's lax border policies and vanished into the US.

The Dec. 5 raid was conducted as a joint effort between Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the NYPD's federal task force. A separate raid also occurred in Brooklyn, resulting in the arrest of 15 additional suspected Tren de Aragua gang members, Fox News reported.

A worker at the Dona Juana Day Care facility, which is located next to the apartment complex, told the network that children were present at the facility during the raid.

Valdero-Calderon was released with a court date after illegally entering the US at Eagle Pass, Texas, in August 2022, according to the NYP. Upon his release, he amassed a lengthy criminal record across numerous states before being ordered to be deported in April. In June 2023, he was convicted of larceny on two separate occasions in New York and New Jersey. He was arrested in Florida in February for fraud, larceny, and resisting arrest. Valdero-Calderon was still at large until his Dec. 5 arrest.

The Post reports that others arrested during the raid included Angel Gabriel Marquez Rodriguez, 19, who has been arrested on shoplifting charges in Chicago and larceny charges in New York City, and Jhonaiker Alexander Gil Cardozo, 24, who has been apprehended in New York City of grand larceny and stolen property charges, reckless endangerment, and robbery.

Last week, New York City Mayor Eric Adams met with Trump's Border Czar Tom Homan and reached an agreement to collaborate with the incoming Trump administration in the removal of migrant criminals from the city as part of mass deportation efforts.