“While these gangs wouldn’t normally mix, it’s always going to be a concern as [Tren de Aragua] expands in strength and establishes a foothold,” Morales said.
Following revelations that many of the illegal immigrants suspected of carrying out dozens of robberies across New York City are tied to Tren de Aragua, fears have grown that the Venezuelan gang may join forces with MS-13, a notorious group formed in Los Angeles by Salvadoran migrants in the 1980s.
An official with the Federal Bureau of Investigation said that while there haven't been any reported incidents of the gangs working together, the possibility has led to increased monitoring of the situation.
El Paso-based Senior FBI agent John Morales told the New York Post that the agency is actively looking into Tren de Aragua and sharing intelligence with other authorities to prevent alliances with other gangs, specifically MS-13.
"While these gangs wouldn't normally mix, it's always going to be a concern as [Tren de Aragua] expands in strength and establishes a foothold," Morales said. "Right now we are working with our local law enforcement partners and sharing intelligence in order to stop the growth of Tren de Aragua."
Morales explained that the gang's first victims are more often than not fellow Venezuelans, adding that they recruit new members from within the growing migrant community.
In an interview with the Post, security consultant and former US marshal Robert Almonte warned that while an alliance between Tren de Aragua and MS-13 wasn't out of the question, "what's more likely to happen is that turf wars break out as each gang fights to control their own criminal enterprise."
The South American criminal enterprise is believed to have taken advantage of the special privileges granted to Venezuelan migrants by the Biden administration to slip across the southern border and carry out their business in the Big Apple. Between October 2022 and September 2023 alone, 41 members were arrested by Customs and Border Protection.
New York Police Department Chief Detective Joe Kenny recently explained that the gang is made up of illegal immigrants who are living in the city's shelter system, naming 30-year-old Victor Parra as the leader. He said Parra uses WhatsApp to tell his minions about a crime he wants them to commit, specifying exactly which type of phone he wants them to nab.
Kenny said that the thieves then bring the phones to Parra's home in the Bronx, where he "employs a tech guy" who is able to hack into the stolen phones, where he gains access to the victim's financial and banking apps. He then uses the phones to "make illegal transactions and fraudulent purchases in the United States and South America," and when the victims' bank accounts are emptied, the phones are shipped to Colombia to be "reprogrammed."
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