Ten suspected members and allies of the ruthless Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) have been indicted in a huge guns and drug-running operation spanning at least six states, with prosecutors claiming they planned to expand internationally to Colombia.
On Wednesday, authorities in New York City reported that one of the accused violent migrant gangbangers fractured an NYPD officer’s arm during an arrest.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz reported that authorities seized 34 illegal guns, including AR-15 assault rifles and a Glock 9mm with an automatic trigger modification, linked to the defendants.
Katz claimed that TDA gang members were also selling lethal substances such as pink cocaine, a designer street drug made up of ketamine, MDMA, and ecstasy.
All ten migrants, including two women, are from Venezuela and entered the nation illegally through the southern border, according to authorities.
This subsection of the gang was led by two Venezuelan nationals who moved to New York City two years ago and formed a gun-running team that included other foreign nationals.
The alleged ringleader, Enyerbert Blanco, 24, has been in detention in Florida since October after being charged in connection with a human trafficking case involving a 15-year-old girl, Katz said.
“We allege that as members and associates, they trafficked weapons and made money in furtherance of TdA’s agenda and as they seek to establish themselves in New York City, we are individually dismantling them,” Katz said the court.
Katz stated that the investigation, known as Operation Train Derail, began over a year ago and was conducted by her agency and the NYPD.
Five of the ten are charged with two charges of criminal sale of a firearm and could face up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
The remaining defendants have been charged with numerous crimes, including firearm possession. They face up to 15 years in prison. All 10 have been charged with conspiracy to possess and sell illegal guns in New York City.
Four are currently in custody in New York City, while four more are in prisons outside the state, including two in Texas and two in Florida. The rest are still on the loose. According to Katz, their illegal activity extended into Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Colorado.
Katz declined to specify whether ICE would deport the individuals, saying that she was treating the operation as a gun-running case.
She claimed that the organization was open about its weapons operations.
The defendant was seen transporting an AR-15 wrapped in a black rubbish bag for sale in Bronx County. This purchase took place at 3:45 p.m. in front of a residential building.
Five other firearm purchases occurred between October 30 and December 10 at a Target parking lot in College Point, Queens.
An assault weapon typically costs between $2,500 and $2,800, while loaded operable handguns sell for between $1,200 and $1,800, according to her.
“This gang was really entrepreneurial. “They really made sure that this business ran like a clock,” Katz explained. “They grabbed weapons recovered from burglaries and car break-ins in other states. They used rental trucks to transport iron up the pipeline and sell it to residents in New York City. They were aware that they could make money in New York, and they even considered smuggling them into Columbia if this inquiry was successful.”
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch stated that the injured cop will undergo surgery later this week and that separate charges would be brought.
“TDA is a dangerous transnational gang that has specialized in murder, trafficking, and mayhem,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch stated. “The NYPD will always work with our federal and our local partners to take down international gangs like TDA, who would wreak havoc on this city.”
Some of the TDA members indicted are Wrallan Meza, 27, Leoner Aguilera, 21, Brayant Aguilar, 21, Rosemary Sanchez, 24, Enyerling Zambrano, 29, Alejandro Rondon, 19, and Oscar Sosa, 31.
