More than a dozen migrants with suspected links to the bloodthirsty Tren de Aragua gang have been arrested following ICE raids across three states.
Officers conducted stings in Texas, Tennessee and North Carolina in the past week, with three men apprehended by the FBI following a dawn raid at an apartment complex in Houston on Tuesday.
The three were part of a, ‘multi-state sex trafficking ring that threatened and abused victims’, according to investigators.
Their arrests came after another eight people were indicted for allegedly trafficking women from Venezuela and other countries as part of the illegal prostitution ring.
At least one victim was flown from San Antonio to Nashville, according to an indictment. Gang ‘enforcer’ Yuribetzi Del Valle Gomez Machuca allegedly told the victim she would need to work off a $30,000 debt through being trafficked to cover that flight.
The defendants were apprehended following raids by ICE officers in Texas and Tennessee, the Tennessean reports.
The defendants are: Gomez Machuca, Yilibeth Del Carmen Rivero-De Caldera, Kleiver Daniel Mota Rivero, Wilmarys Del Valle Manzano Soloranzo, Endrik Alexander Morales-Rivero, Ariannys Beatriz Gutierrez-Carrillo, Frankyanna Del Valle Romero-Rivero and Jesus Enrique Castillo Rodriguez.
They are accused of luring the women to the US with the ‘promise of a better life’ before saddling them with massive debts that exceeded their cost of travel and which could only be paid off through prostitution, acting US Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee Rob McGuire said.
Almost a dozen migrants with suspected links to the bloodthirsty Tren de Aragua gang have been arrested following ICE raids across several states. Pictured: A raid in Houston on Tuesday
Yuribetzi del Valle Gomez Machuca was arrested in San Antonio on Tuesday in connection with a prostitution ring operating in Nashville
Two of the accused are said to have used their links to Tren de Aragua to intimidate the victims. Many of the accused are related, according to the US Attorney’s Office.
They are all charged with conspiracy to commit interstate transportation for purposes of prostitution and conspiracy to commit interstate and foreign travel or transportation in aid of racketeering enterprises.
Two of the defendants had been arrested and jailed in Davidson County, Tennessee on state charges.
An additional suspected Tren de Aragua member believed to be linked to a mass shooting in Chicago was also apprehended in North Carolina on February 8.
Venezuelan national Ricardo Padillia-Granadillo, 24, was arrested at a home in Raleigh where a weapon, ammunition and ten other undocumented Venezuelan migrants were discovered.
The New York Post also reported on the arrest of a suspected Tren de Aragua murderer wanted in Dallas, who was picked up during a raid earlier this month.
On Wednesday, White House press secretary said that more than 8,000 immigrants have been arrested since President Trump’s inauguration on January 20, however hundreds of those arrested have since been released back into the US, Fox reports.
Trump said that the Venezuelan government has now agreed to ‘accept all Venezuela illegal aliens who were encamped in the US, including gang members of Tren de Aragua‘.
Adelvis Jose Rodriguez-Carmona is one of four alleged Tren de Aragua members arrested in Chattanooga, Tennessee who has been linked to a sex trafficking ring by the authorities
On Tuesday, three men were apprehended by the FBI following a dawn raid at an apartment complex in Houston, Texas
Tren de Aragua began as a Venezuelan prison gang but has since spilled over into the US.
Last year, the gang was linked to the take over of several apartment buildings in Aurora, Colorado, prompting Trump to pledge a crackdown on Tren de Aragua if elected.
As ICE closed in on an apartment complex in Denver last week, desperate migrants looking to escape arrest ended up on the roof of an apartment complex, exclusive video obtained by DailyMail.com showed.
On Saturday, the president ended Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelan migrants in the US meaning they can now be deported.
The US previously determined that Venezuela was too dangerous for migrants to be returned to.
The country’s government was refuging to accept flights carrying migrants due to sanctions imposed under the Biden administration.
However, Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro has since agreed to accept the fights.
Eight people were also indicted on sex trafficking charges out of Nashville
The Trump administration has focused on alleged criminals who have been detained as part of the ICE raids, however there is no clear data available on how many of those arrested have a criminal past.
Between October 2022 and November 2024, 78 percent of people arrested by the agency had a misdemeanor conviction or no conviction at all, the Guardian reports.
Only 21 percent of people had a felony criminal conviction, a Guardian analysis of monthly Ice Enforcement and Removal Operations shows.
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .