How Tren de Aragua used NYC migrant shelters to build a criminal empire: ‘Hiding in plain sight’

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In little more than a year, a once-obscure South American street gang has taken hold in the Big Apple, exploiting the migrant crisis to build a violent criminal enterprise from within the walls of city shelters.

Tren de Aragua, a Venezuela-bred crew of thugs, now terrorize Gotham with gun-toting, moped-riding hoods, sell illegal guns under the very noses of private shelter security guards, and run sleazy prostitution rings in neighborhoods suddenly besieged by the marauding migrants.

The gang, which also peddles a lethal fentanyl mix called Tussi or “pink cocaine,” has grown so fast that it has so far overwhelmed both average New Yorkers and the city’s elite police force.

The reach of Tren de Aragua in New York City includes robberies, drug sales and prostitution in once-docile neighborhoods. NYPost

“Not every migrant is here to commit crimes, not every migrant is a gang member,” said NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny. “But these TDA guys hide very well in plain sight in the migrant community.

“We aren’t looking to grab the food delivery guy, but these guys go so far as to wear Uber Eats clothing, [use] the delivery bags while they’re out there committing their crimes,” the chief told The Post. “When we do arrest them, they are very eager to talk about the crime they have committed.

“They are unwilling to talk about TDA itself.”

The gang, whose name means “train from Aragua” (a state in north-central Venezuela) in Spanish, now runs citywide theft and robbery crews that have terrorized neighborhoods.

In Jackson Heights, a stretch of Roosevelt Avenue dubbed the “Market of Sweethearts” has become a testament to TDA’s muscle and influence, with vendors peddling stolen items and an open-air red light district that has migrant hookers walking the streets day and night.

Members of Tren de Aragua carry distinctive tattoos that identify them as members of the violent crew. U.S. District Court

Police say the “hub” for Tren de Aragua operations in the Big Apple is the massive migrant tent city at Randall’s Island in Manhattan. Brigitte Stelzer

A 24-hour brothel raided by the NYPD last week may have ties to the gang, sources said.

Long list of victims

One current crime spree has seen nearly two dozen heists pulled off by migrants wielding guns or knives, with the crooks typically as young as 15 and no older than 19 years old, law enforcement sources said.

The crews move in groups of a half-dozen or more, and raid not only retailers but average New Yorkers: One victim was approached by a TDA gang and threatened with a knife, slugged and robbed in June.

In July, another victim was lounging near the Central Park playground when two thugs forcibly stole $80 and grabbed his phone, making him give up his password before running off.

And last month, a woman walking near Rockefeller Center was pickpocketed by another migrant.

The NYPD also recently shut down a major gang-linked robbery crew, with nearly two dozen migrant teens either busted or identified as suspects in 21 separate and often violent robberies.

Sources said members of Tren de Aragua sneaked across the US border with thousands of asylum seekers and stayed. James Breeden for NY Post)

Once in the US, Tren de Aragua members branched out all over the country, setting up shop in various states and cities, including New York and Chicago. NY Post Composite

“They were like, ‘We need your phone, we need your stuff,’ because I had my bag with me, my phone, AirPods, Apple Watch,” one victim told The Post. “They wanted everything, but I couldn’t give anything because I had some money, I had some things in my bag.

“They started and punched me to the face,” he said. “I was stepping back, you know, trying to fight back, but I couldn’t do anything. And then five more guys came in, total, like, minimum, 10 of them.”

With little regard for law enforcement, TDA gangbangers are also not shy about targeting cops.

Gang member Bernardo Castro Mata, 19, was arrested in Queens in June and charged with shooting NYPD officers Richard Yarusso and Christian Abreu after they nabbed the gun-toting robbery suspect.

In February, suspected gang member Jesus Alejandro Rivas-Figueroa, just 15, was busted for allegedly firing at a tourist and a police officer in Times Square.

A month earlier, a cowardly gang of migrants with alleged links to the gang jumped two NYPD cops in the same area, and one of them, identified as Jhoan Boada, 22, was so brazen as to flash reporters the double bird as he walked out of court without bail.

‘Very bad people’

For the majority of asylum seekers, the gang is a stain on their community, and an example of the rampant violence and lawlessness that forced them to leave their homelands in the first place.

“I wouldn’t want the violence I grew up with to start here,” one Venezuelan migrant at Manhattan’s Roosevelt Hotel said Sunday. “I wouldn’t be here if I saw what I saw in Venezuela. I brought my kids here so they wouldn’t have the experiences with criminals like how it is over there.”

Another migrant simply called the gang “very bad people.”

Ground zero for TDA’s New York City operation is Randall’s Island, where a massive tent city was erected to help accommodate the wave of migrants from the US border.

Kenny called it “the main hub site.”

“You have the shelter itself and also have kind of like a tent city where people who are not registered to be in the shelter have taken up residence on their own,” the chief said.

Police said the migrant tent city at Randall’s Island is the hub for Tren de Aragua in the Big Apple, with guns, drugs and robbery proceeds stashed inside. Christopher Sadowski

He said one migrant dealer busted by the cops “didn’t want to go onto Randall’s because it’s too dangerous. There’s a lot of people there that don’t belong — it’s a congregation of people.”

But they’ve infiltrated other shelters: Sources said one TDA bigwig was booted from the massive Hall Street shelter in Brooklyn for breaking the rules, but returns every other day to collect the proceeds from drug sales at the facility and to smooth over any beefs between gang members.

International feud

The 4,000-bed shelter is also home to a rival Venezuelan gang called “El Carro De Lost Caragijos 666,” which has a beef with TDA that predates its arrival in the US.

Tren began to expand out of its home base in 2018, and popped up on the radar of the Venezuelan military when it resorted to assassination and bribes to win lucrative railroad contracts in the city of Maracay — and soon established chapters elsewhere in South America.

The massive migrant shelter at Randall’s Island has allowed Tren de Aragua to “hide in plain sight,” NYPD brass said. Christopher Sadowski

Members sneaked into the US among the millions of migrants who crossed the border, and set up shop across the nation, from cities like El Paso and Chicago to Florida beaches and Middle America.

Members are told to get distinctive tattoos that mark them as members, with the body art typically including anchors, clocks, crowns and phrases that included the word “guerrero” — which means warrior in Spanish but also pays homage to Hector “Nino” Guerrero, the leader of Tren de Aragua in Venezuela.

The gang tats also tend to feature the number “23” or NBA stars Michael Jordan and LeBron James, both of whom wear the number on their jerseys, while others include images of bulls, seemingly a shout-out to the Chicago Bulls basketball team, a city where TDA has flourished, sources said.

Just last week, an immigration enforcement source told The Post that the gang has also expanded into New Jersey, in part with new recruits plucked from the Big Apple.

Members of Tren de Aragua sport distinctive tattoos that ID them as members of the violent Venezuelan gang. NYPD

Shelters are the focus

In New York, TDA recruiters worked city shelters to enlist new members, many of them strong-armed into joining their ranks under the threat of having their families targeted by the gang.

Any asylum seekers who refuse to join are labeled “Culebra” — an enemy of TDA.

With many job-seeking migrants taking food delivery jobs, TDA exploited the industry by putting armed robbers and even hit men on mopeds and scooters, often posing as deliverymen.

Guns and drugs were smuggled into shelters like Randall’s Island inside food deliver bags — which are rarely searched or put through metal detectors by security, sources told The Post.

Migrant hit teams also use the scooters to eliminate rivals or breakaway gangbangers, with a driver and gunman on the two-wheelers and gang members keeping tabs from nearby cars, the sources said.

The sources said TDA members are not shy about opening fire on cops, a standard practice back home in Venezuela, where shooting at police typically means you can get away.

When nabbed in New York, TDA gang members have spilled their guts about their crimes — but most refuse to fess up to their affiliation with the vicious and vindictive gang for fear of retribution.

Additional reporting by Valentina Jaramillo and Jennie Taer

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How Tren de Aragua used NYC migrant shelters to build a criminal empire: ‘Hiding in plain sight’

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