A large-scale federal operation to crack down on the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua in the Denver area has resulted in 30 individuals charged with drug trafficking and firearm offenses.
The charges came in two indictments, announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado on Monday.
The first indictment includes 39 charges for 28 individuals in connection to criminal activity at a Denver metro apartment complex. The charges include firearms trafficking; use of firearms to traffic drugs; firearms and ammunition possession by illegals; trafficking of cocaine, “Tusi,” methamphetamine, and ecstasy. Five individuals are charged with conspiring in a murder-for-hire plot.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, 69 firearms were seized during the operation, with some being “linked to shootings in Denver and Aurora, including carjackings, robberies, and drive-by shootings.”
Of the 28 charged, 24 are in federal custody, officials said.
“TdA has been linked to brutal offenses including murder, kidnapping, extortion, and human and drug trafficking,” the office said. “Many of TdA’s members have unlawfully entered the United States, bringing the gang’s violence to American communities, including in Colorado.”
The other indictment charges Luis Fernando Uribe-Torrealba, 29, and Luis Henriquez-Charaima, 29 – who are both in custody in Columbia – with conspiracy to traffic firearms, conspiracy for murder-forhire, and conspiracy to traffic controlled substances.
Officials believe three of the individuals charged are leaders of TdA, which is designated as a foreign terrorist organization, and five are alleged members, and the rest are believed to be associates of the gang.
The investigation took nine months and was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and local law enforcement.
