Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas, announced on Monday, Sept. 16, the state of Texas is enhancing its efforts to target the transnational Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua (TDA). Abbott designated the criminal group as a “Foreign Terrorist Organization,” and revealed a host of actions to combat the gang’s presence in Texas.
“Texas is aggressively going after these foreign terrorist organizations,” Abbot said as he held up the signed new measures.
“By declaring TDA a ‘Foreign Terrorist Organization,’ Texas will use the courts to halt their operations, use civil asset forfeiture to take their property, use enhanced criminal penalties to keep them in jail behind bars for longer periods of time, ” Abbot said.
The new measures will also dedicate a new task force strictly meant to crack down on TDA operations in the state of Texas.
“I directed the DPS to create a new TDA strike force team made up of highway patrol officers, DPS special agents, Texas Rangers, SWAT teams, including aircraft, helicopters, and drones, K-9 teams and intelligence units,” Abbott said.
The governor also announced another designation for the notorious gang.
“To more directly target TDA, I directed DPA to elevate TDA to a tier-one gang, the worst-of-the-worst, ensuring that DPS deploys the resources that are needed to corral this growing menace,” He said.
According to Abbott, the state is already making headway in its fight against TDA. He said during the press conference on Monday that more than a dozen suspected TDA members were arrested at the Gateway Hotel in El Paso on charges of human smuggling and other crimes.
Abbott’s sharpened efforts also impose harsher prisoner sentences on Tren De Aragua members convicted of a crime. He also announced that Texas is starting database from “scratch” to identify suspected Tren De Aragua members through tattoos, scars and other characteristics.
