Back in April, the US Border Patrol chief, Jason Owens, warned Americans to “watch out” for the Tren de Aragua gang, said Luige del Puerto in The Denver Gazette. Venezuela’s most powerful criminal organisation, it began life as a prison gang a decade ago but has since spread to other countries in South and Central America, and now to the US. Officials acknowledge that the gang is operating in the Denver region, but they claim it isn’t a major threat. They’ve dismissed reports of gangsters seizing control of the apartments as wild exaggerations, insisting there have merely been isolated crimes.
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A lot of nonsense has been spouted about this, said The Denver Post. Donald Trump claimed that Venezuelans were “taking over the whole town”; Colorado Republicans claimed their state was “under violent attack”. Baloney. The fuss was instigated by the owners of the apartment complex, who are using gangs as “a scapegoat for the unsanitary, unsafe and unhealthy” conditions – a source of bitter complaint among residents.
Others have blown the story out of proportion for political reasons, or out of simple anti-immigrant prejudice. The fact is, the Denver region has always had some gang activity. According to the US Justice Department, prominent local gangs include the Bloods, Crips, Sureños 13, North Side Mafia and Gangster Disciples. “The addition of the Tren de Aragua gang to the mix is a dangerous complication, but not a cause for panic.”
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Publish date : 2024-09-14 19:12:00
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