NEW YORK CITY, NY- Federal agents arrested a crew of Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang members in a Bronx apartment after tracking one of their ankle monitors to the hideout, which is reportedly next to a daycare facility.
According to the New York Post, the raid happened on December 5th at an apartment building on the edge of Crotona Park. It was conducted by a federal task force made up of Homeland Security Investigators and the New York Police Department (NYPD). The bust landed seven alleged gang members in handcuffs, including a troublesome 28-year-old Venezuelan national who was wearing a court-ordered monitoring device that led the agents to the entire group.
Members of TdA have illegally crossed the southern border to get inside of the United States and gained a foothold in New York City, among other cities across the country. Law enforcement officials said the gang has recruited inside tax-funded migrant shelters and runs violent theft and robbery crews while peddling drugs, guns, and women throughout the five boroughs.
Former Denver ICE chief John Fabbricatore said, "What we're seeing is this evolution of Tren de Aragua, where they've gone into these sanctuary cities. They've started to solidify themselves and then they throw tentacles out to multiple other locations where they think that they can continue to make money. I think people are finally starting to realize how bad the situation has gotten."
According to law enforcement sources, most of the gang members arrested inside the Bronx apartment were sought on multiple warrants after illegally crossing the southern border and then disappearing.
Among those arrested was 24-year-old Jhonaiker Alexander Gil Cardozo, who had amassed at least four arrests in two states after illegally crossing the southern border in El Paso back in September 2022. He was previously arrested by the NYPD on grand larceny and stolen property charges in July and had two other arrests in June for reckless endangerment and robbery.
On June 28th, he was also arrested for shoplifting in Greenville, South Carolina. Another TdA member, 30-year-old Jesus Manuel Quintero Granado crossed the southern border illegally in September 2022 with his Peruvian wife and child. They were looking to make their way to Canada.
However, Canadian authorities denied the family's asylum request in September 2023 and sent them back to the U.S., where northern border agents released them pending an immigration hearing. Granado then got arrested four times in New York and New Jersey.
Also taken into custody during the raid was 19-year-old Angel Gabriel Marquez Rodriguez. He was released with a pending court date after illegally crossing the border back in September 2023. Two months after that he was arrested in Chicago on a shoplifting charge. He then made his way to New York City where he was arrested on larceny charges in March and June.
Another gang member, 21-year-old Fernandez Franco Greymer De Dios was being processed for deportation after getting caught illegally crossing the border in May. He claimed fear of prosecution and was released pending a court date, only to disappear, which resulted in a deportation order in absentia on November 20th.
Valero-Calderon, the illegal immigrant fugitive whose ankle monitor led the agents to the gang hangout, dodged the law several times before getting arrested on December 5th. He entered the U.S. at Eagle Pass, Texas, in August 2022 and was released with a court date. He reported to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in New York City the following month, but shortly after started breaking the law.
He was arrested twice on larceny charges in New York City and New Jersey, which led to a conviction in June 2023. He blew off a mandatory check-in with immigration authorities and was marked as a fugitive, yet somehow remained free despite a subsequent Florida arrest on February 17th for fraud, larceny, and resisting arrest.
He was ordered deported on April 25th, but was still on the loose as of December 5th. According to Fox News, the apartment where the raid happened was next to the Doña Juana Day Care facility. A worker at the daycare said that there were children inside the facility when the raid took place.
All of the illegal immigrants arrested during the raid were identified by federal immigration sources as members of TdA. News of the raids were welcomed by New York City Council Member Joe Borelli of Staten Island. He said, "This is a gang that set up camp in our city and it is beyond the pale that the Democratic Party is entrenched against having the NYPD cooperate with ICE to remove them. They are actively recruiting members among the migrant community and unfortunately, spend most of their time terrorizing those very same people."
He added, "Mayor Adams should use every resource available to end the city law that precludes the NYPD from cooperating with ICE because it is specific groups like this that make me question the sanity of people who seek to protect them and ensure they remain here."
According to the New York Post, the raid happened on December 5th at an apartment building on the edge of Crotona Park. It was conducted by a federal task force made up of Homeland Security Investigators and the New York Police Department (NYPD). The bust landed seven alleged gang members in handcuffs, including a troublesome 28-year-old Venezuelan national who was wearing a court-ordered monitoring device that led the agents to the entire group.
Members of TdA have illegally crossed the southern border to get inside of the United States and gained a foothold in New York City, among other cities across the country. Law enforcement officials said the gang has recruited inside tax-funded migrant shelters and runs violent theft and robbery crews while peddling drugs, guns, and women throughout the five boroughs.
Former Denver ICE chief John Fabbricatore said, "What we're seeing is this evolution of Tren de Aragua, where they've gone into these sanctuary cities. They've started to solidify themselves and then they throw tentacles out to multiple other locations where they think that they can continue to make money. I think people are finally starting to realize how bad the situation has gotten."
According to law enforcement sources, most of the gang members arrested inside the Bronx apartment were sought on multiple warrants after illegally crossing the southern border and then disappearing.
Among those arrested was 24-year-old Jhonaiker Alexander Gil Cardozo, who had amassed at least four arrests in two states after illegally crossing the southern border in El Paso back in September 2022. He was previously arrested by the NYPD on grand larceny and stolen property charges in July and had two other arrests in June for reckless endangerment and robbery.
On June 28th, he was also arrested for shoplifting in Greenville, South Carolina. Another TdA member, 30-year-old Jesus Manuel Quintero Granado crossed the southern border illegally in September 2022 with his Peruvian wife and child. They were looking to make their way to Canada.
However, Canadian authorities denied the family's asylum request in September 2023 and sent them back to the U.S., where northern border agents released them pending an immigration hearing. Granado then got arrested four times in New York and New Jersey.
Also taken into custody during the raid was 19-year-old Angel Gabriel Marquez Rodriguez. He was released with a pending court date after illegally crossing the border back in September 2023. Two months after that he was arrested in Chicago on a shoplifting charge. He then made his way to New York City where he was arrested on larceny charges in March and June.
Another gang member, 21-year-old Fernandez Franco Greymer De Dios was being processed for deportation after getting caught illegally crossing the border in May. He claimed fear of prosecution and was released pending a court date, only to disappear, which resulted in a deportation order in absentia on November 20th.
Valero-Calderon, the illegal immigrant fugitive whose ankle monitor led the agents to the gang hangout, dodged the law several times before getting arrested on December 5th. He entered the U.S. at Eagle Pass, Texas, in August 2022 and was released with a court date. He reported to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in New York City the following month, but shortly after started breaking the law.
He was arrested twice on larceny charges in New York City and New Jersey, which led to a conviction in June 2023. He blew off a mandatory check-in with immigration authorities and was marked as a fugitive, yet somehow remained free despite a subsequent Florida arrest on February 17th for fraud, larceny, and resisting arrest.
He was ordered deported on April 25th, but was still on the loose as of December 5th. According to Fox News, the apartment where the raid happened was next to the Doña Juana Day Care facility. A worker at the daycare said that there were children inside the facility when the raid took place.
All of the illegal immigrants arrested during the raid were identified by federal immigration sources as members of TdA. News of the raids were welcomed by New York City Council Member Joe Borelli of Staten Island. He said, "This is a gang that set up camp in our city and it is beyond the pale that the Democratic Party is entrenched against having the NYPD cooperate with ICE to remove them. They are actively recruiting members among the migrant community and unfortunately, spend most of their time terrorizing those very same people."
He added, "Mayor Adams should use every resource available to end the city law that precludes the NYPD from cooperating with ICE because it is specific groups like this that make me question the sanity of people who seek to protect them and ensure they remain here."
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