Young members of the Tren de Aragua gang, staying at a New York City-funded migrant shelter, are allegedly committing armed robberies in Times Square and escaping detection, the New York Post reported. The gang, one of Venezuela’s most notorious criminal organizations, is known for extensive activities such as human smuggling, drug and sex trafficking, armed robbery and extortion.
Top police officials told the publication that nearly two dozen asylum-seeking migrants, some as young as 11 years old, have escalated from purse snatchings to gunpoint heists in less than a year, targeting both tourists and New Yorkers.
New York City police are trying to address a rise in violent crime associated with gang members in the city. However, according to NYPD Detective Bureau Assistant Chief Jason Savino, young Tren de Aragua members are managing to evade incarceration due to their ages and leniency in the law.
Savino said that more than 20 gang members seen loitering around the migrant shelter and Times Square have been linked to 50 separate crimes, yet none have faced any consequences.
Government officials and law enforcement have reported that Tren de Aragua gang members disguised themselves to blend in with other asylum-seekers while illegally crossing the southern border into the United States since 2022.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security reported in September that Tren de Aragua gang members are linked to more than 100 criminal cases across the country.
In June, Bernardo Raul Castro Mata, a 19-year-old, admitted Tren de Aragua gang member living in a New York City migrant shelter, was accused of shooting two NYPD officers who attempted to pull him over on his scooter.
Informants have reported that gang members sneak firearms into the shelters through food delivery packages to bypass metal detectors.
New York is not the only city facing issues with Tren de Aragua. Former Chicago gang member Tyrone Muhammad, who spent two years in prison for gang-related activities, warned last month that Tren de Aragua gang members have also infiltrated Chicago’s South Side, raising concerns about a potential “bloodshed” turf war between Black gangs and Venezuelan migrants.
