The ruthless Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua becomes a household name in the United States and rolls off the tongues of Republican politicians to attack the Biden administration’s border policies. Many Democrats, in turn, want you to dismiss reports of gang activity in the US as election-year exaggerations.
You should be wary of the political rhetoric that portrays all Venezuelan immigrants as violent criminals. An overwhelming majority of them are not. But Tren de Aragua and a rival gang known as Anti-Tren pose a real threat. While we do not know the full extent of their presence and crimes in the US, law enforcement data indicates that their tendrils have reached Texas and the Dallas area. A recent home invasion in Bluffview, near Dallas Love Field, underscores why local law enforcement must be on high alert and work with federal partners to counter this gang threat before it takes root deeper in North Texas.
On September 21, four men cornered a woman when they drove into her garage and forced her into her home at gunpoint. According to a police statement, the woman was pistol-whipped and tied up with her own clothing as the men searched her home. They made off with $75,000 worth of jewelry, designer wallets, a bank card and the woman’s iPhone.
Authorities matched a fingerprint at the crime scene to a Venezuelan named Manuel Hernandez Hernandez, 28, who admitted to being present during the robbery and implicated four other suspects, including the getaway driver, according to a police statement. Hernandez Hernandez told police that the other suspects were part of the Anti-Tren gang – a group made up of former members of Tren de Aragua – and that they were involved in sex trafficking. The man told detectives that he had known one of the suspects for 15 years and that they had grown up together.
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“Manuel Hernandez-Hernandez claimed that he was not part of the gang, but that the other members were known to engage in the promotion of prostitution and to possess firearms,” the Dallas police statement read.
We are concerned about what we have learned about the men’s records. According to federal officials, Hernandez Hernandez crossed the border without being inspected near El Paso in March, and in May he pleaded guilty to driving under the influence and was sentenced to three days in jail. Officials did not say where.
Colleyville police arrested Hernandez Hernandez after a traffic stop on September 19, a few days before the robbery in Dallas. Records show he was cited for five minor crimes, including possession of drug paraphernalia and driving without a license, and was released from jail the next day. A spokeswoman for the Colleyville Police Department told us that Hernandez Hernandez was not in immigration detention at the time of his release.
An immigration detainer is a message informing local officials that federal authorities plan to take into custody a suspect who is not a U.S. citizen and is eligible for deportation.
Another suspect, Carlos Alberto Martinez Silva, arrived at a U.S. port of entry in California in July. He was admitted to the country pending immigration proceedings, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.
Two other suspects in the robbery — Yean Torrealba Sanabria and Wilmer Colmenares Gonzalez — encountered Border Patrol agents near Eagle Pass and Brownsville, respectively, in 2023. Both were released pending immigration court hearings in Dallas in January 2025.
We do not know how the fifth suspect, Jarlen Flores Guana, entered the US. He and the four other suspects in the robbery now have immigration detainees, according to ICE and county records.
Our editors contacted the Dallas Police Department to ask about the possible presence of Venezuelan gangs. The department denied our interview request.
We also contacted the FBI office in Dallas. The agency broadly described its efforts to investigate gangs. It said in a statement that it pursues violent gangs with its local and state partners through the Violent Gang Safe Streets Task Force and works closely with the community to develop resources and generate leads.
It’s no surprise that potential gang members have been filtered through the southern border. A recent federal audit found that the Department of Homeland Security’s technology and procedures were “not fully effective.” screening and vetting asylum seekers. The agency fails to rescreen asylum seekers for potential threats during the months and years it takes to review hundreds of thousands of asylum applications.
This problem is magnified when it comes to arrivals from Venezuela, a country with which the US has no diplomatic ties or data-sharing agreements.
Local police cannot control immigration authorities’ enforcement protocols, but they can be proactive in sharing intelligence with other law enforcement agencies and federal partners, especially when it comes to crimes like sex trafficking that often cross city and state lines.
Earlier this year, three Venezuelan citizens with ties to Tren de Aragua were charged in connection with a sex trafficking operation. According to a federal criminal complaint, a victim told Border Patrol agents in El Paso that a gang member paid to smuggle her into the U.S. and forced her to pay off her debt through prostitution. The woman said the gang had “warehouses” in Texas, Louisiana, Virginia, New Jersey and Florida and trafficked up to 30 women. According to the complaint, local authorities searched an apartment in Baton Rouge after a Spanish-speaking woman called to say she was being trafficked. Officers found money, condoms and ledger books.
“The ledgers appeared to document how much money each victim earned each day and how much of their ‘debts’ remained,” the federal complaint said.
Bianca Davis, CEO of New Friends New Life, a Dallas-based nonprofit that helps victims of human trafficking, told us that the vast majority of people it helps are locals, not immigrants. She said she expects the number of immigrants the organization helps to grow as the organization expands its reach and immigrant communities become more established.
Davis emphasized that sex trafficking can be subtle and victims don’t have to cross borders or even zip codes.
It’s important to see the big picture here and reject the fear mongering that blames undocumented immigrants for all the crime in our neighborhoods and cities. At the same time, our law enforcement, state and federal agencies must remain vigilant against international criminal groups and proactively share information with each other that can help our communities avert threats.
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