Aurora police identify 10 known Tren de Aragua members following reports of gang activity

By Samantha Kamman, Christian Post Reporter Friday, September 13, 2024

Venezuelan and Haitian migrants wait to be registered at Canaan Membrillo village, the first border control of the Darien Province in Panama, on October 13, 2022. - The clandestine journey through the Darien Gap usually lasts five or six days at the mercy of all kinds of bad weather: snakes, swamps and drug traffickers who use these routes to take cocaine to Central America. | LUIS ACOSTA/AFP via Getty Images

Police in Aurora, Colorado, identified 10 members of a Venezuelan gang as part of an ongoing investigation into reports of gang members living in the city and committing acts of violence, with crimes ranging from aggravated assault to shootings at apartments.

The Aurora Police Department has been investigating reports of the Venezuela prison gang Tren de Aragua operating in the city.

On Wednesday, the department released the names of 10 members the police said have been "committing acts of violence against members of the migrant community" in the town.

Two of the identified suspects, 22-year-old Jhonardy Pacheco-Chirinos and 24-year-old Jhonnarty Dejesus Pacheco-Chirinos, are believed to have been involved in a July shooting at the Nome Street complex. Another identified suspect, 32-year-old Luis Miguel Calzadilla-Rojas, was arrested earlier this year in relation to a shooting in front of the Arapahoe County Probation Office.

Aurora police have arrested all but two of the 10 suspects, according to a joint statement Wednesday from Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman and Council Member Danielle Jurinsky, chair of the council's Public Safety, Courts and Civil Service Policy Committee.

"As for the perception and reality of public safety in Aurora, please understand that issues experienced at a select few properties do not apply to the city as a whole or large portions of it," the statement said. "TdA has not 'taken over' the city. The overstated claims fueled by social media and through select news organizations are simply not true. Again, TdA’s presence in Aurora is limited to specific properties, all of which the city has been addressing in various ways for months."

"To date, APD has now linked 10 people to TdA and has arrested eight of those people." it continued. "Two of the eight individuals who were taken into custody were involved in a July shooting at one of the specific properties in the city that have experienced issues with TdA activity. In line with these arrests, we can also now confirm that criminal activity, including TdA issues, had significantly affected those properties."

The Colorado city has been the center of media attention following a viral video that appeared to show gang members taking over an apartment complex. Coffman initially told the media that he held the federal government and nonprofit organizations responsible for deciding to house a large number of Venezuelan migrants in low-income apartments in his city.

After several media outlets reported on the story and before former President Donald Trump brought it up during Tuesday's presidential debate, Coffman downplayed the situation in a statement to Newsweek last Friday.

"I certainly have concerns about the border, I have concerns about immigration policy, but from what I can see now, it seems to have an exaggerated importance," Coffman said. "I'm not dismissing the concerns at all, but whatever happened initially happened. What I can tell you now is that the gangs are not in control of either complex."

Aurora serves as a sanctuary city for migrants who entered the United States through the southwest border, with the mayor expressing concerns that the migrants had been "crammed" into apartment buildings. Two of the complexes reportedly have maintenance issues and suffer from a lack of management, according to Newsweek.

"There is inadequate vetting of people at the border," Coffman said.

"So, it's my understanding that when you do have a concentration of Venezuelan migrants sometimes, sadly, that criminal element follows and exploits them within their own immigrant communities."

The Colorado mayor called for changes in policy, citing negligence at the federal level; however, Coffman said he holds both political parties responsible for the country's immigration system. Coffman argued that former President Barack Obama and Trump did not do enough to resolve the situation.

"I just hope that Congress comes together and fixes this broken system," he said. "It's way too easy to come into this country illegally, and it's so hard to come in legally. I just think that the situation we are facing right now is the product of a broken immigration system."

During the Tuesday presidential debate between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, the former president criticized the Biden administration's handling of the border and immigration. Trump argued that if Harris wins the election, the U.S. will "end up being Venezuela on steroids."

"They allowed criminals, many, many millions of criminals, they allowed terrorists, they allowed common street criminals, they allowed people to come in, drug dealers to come into our country," he stated. "They're now in the United States and told by their countries, like Venezuela, don't ever come back or we're going to kill you."

Trump also stressed Harris' role in leading the Biden administration's response to the border and illegal immigration, asserting that the vice president does not want to be referred to as "border czar" because "she's embarrassed by the border."

Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman