Texas arrests four members of the Tren de Aragua gang crossing the US border from Mexico

Texas Department of Public Safety troopers arrested four confirmed members of the Tren de Aragua gang after illegally crossing the Mexican border. The four members of the Venezuelan gang crossed the border with a group of 22 migrants from four countries on New Year’s Eve.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced the arrest Friday, saying, “Earlier this week, Texas Department of Public Safety troopers identified and arrested four vicious members of the TdA gang who were attempting to illegally cross the border from Mexico to the state.

On New Year’s Eve, DPS troops assigned to the governor’s Operation Lone Star border security mission encountered a group of 22 migrants illegally crossing the border from Mexico into Texas, the governor’s office reported . The migrants were identified as citizens of Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela.

Officers arrested 11 of the migrants for criminal trespassing and referred the remaining family units to Border Patrol agents. While processing the arrested migrants, police identified nine of them as Venezuelan nationals.

DPS special agents investigated the migrants and confirmed that four of them were members of the hyperviolent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

“Confirmed TdA gang members arrested on New Year’s Eve include Segundo Ocando-Mejia, 39; Pedro Luis Salazar-Cuervo, 27; Antonio Joe Urruttia-Rojas, 18; and Levi Jesus Urrutia-Blanco, 18. Ocando-Mejia had tattoos on his shoulders indicating he may hold rank or leadership within the gang,” officials reported.

“I have designated TdA as a foreign terrorist organization, and we will not tolerate this gang operating or gaining a foothold in Texas,” Abbott said. “Until President Trump is back in the White House to secure our border, Texas will continue to hunt down dangerous criminals like TdA and put them behind bars to protect Texans from this vicious gang.”