Police alert about violent gang presence among Venezuelan migrants in Chicago

The Chicago Police Department has issued a warning to its officers about the potential presence of members from a violent Venezuelan prison gang, El Tren de Aragua, saying the transnational syndicate may have infiltrated the 20,000 migrants who arrived in the city during the past year. 

Retail stores like Macy's and Nordstrom have been targeted repeatedly by Venezuelan migrant suspects for retail theft in Chicago and Oak Brook, and crime rates have continued to skyrocket.

One individual was accused of hitting two stores within four days, stealing items worth a total of $329 at Nordstrom and $720 worth of sportswear at Macy's. Another arrest involved the same man punching someone in the face during an argument over lighting at a communal sleeping area, but that case was also dismissed.

Tren de Aragua is Venezuela's most influential domestic criminal organization, and it's the only Venezuelan gang that has managed to extend its influence beyond the country's borders.

It has transformed from a prison gang with regional roots in the state of Aragua into a transnational criminal entity with a broad range of illicit activities. However, Tren de Aragua isn't primarily involved in drug-related activities; its main source of income comes from human trafficking. According to Insight Crime, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank,  the organization has industrialized human trafficking to an unprecedented degree in South America.

Among the cases reportedly linked to the gang in Chicago the most serious involved a Venezuelan migrant named Jorge Goyo, charged with stabbing another asylum-seeker in August at the Grand Crossing police station. Goyo is currently free while awaiting trial for aggravated battery.

In DuPage County, two Venezuelan migrants residing in Chicago were arrested on felony shoplifting charges at Macy's in Oak Brook Center, with two others arrested for the same charges at the same store a week later.

It was only a matter of time....

Among our "asylum seekers" exist members of a Venezuelan prison gang. A characteristic of the gang is "extreme brutality."

Imagine the depravity these sadists will inflict when placed in Johnsonvilles.

Happy Halloween, "y'all." pic.twitter.com/NdkqZDzh2x

— Chicago Contrarian (@ChicagoContrar1) October 28, 2023

Another Venezuelan migrant was accused of brandishing a knife and demanding belongings from a man on the Far South Side in September, outside the Standard Club, which had been converted into a migrant shelter.

This case was also dismissed by prosecutors. 

Officials from the Chicago Police Department and DuPage County State's Attorney's Office declined to discuss crimes attributed to Venezuelan migrants. However, they mentioned that they are cooperating with various law enforcement agencies to monitor and address potential threats and criminal activities related to suspected gang members.

In 2022, ADN America reported that retired Venezuelan lieutenant and political exile José Antonio Colina Pulido said he has been alerting U.S. authorities through his online show and social media accounts that he has been receiving information Nicolás Maduro is releasing convicted criminals on the condition that they would emigrate from the country to the United States.

Both the Chicago police and the sheriff's office have issued internal alerts to officers about the possibility of El Tren de Aragua prison gang members residing among migrants, but the details of these alerts have not been disclosed.

In late October, a Venezuelan man arrested for assaulting his girlfriend near a migrant tent had tattoos resembling those worn by the gang, according to a Chicago police alert. The gang's tattoos include a skull with a gas mask and an AK-47 rifle, and they often wear Michael Jordan No. 23 jerseys due to the gang's anniversary on January 23.

A separate Cook County sheriff's alert has now indicated that investigators have learned of the prison gang's presence in the Chicago area.

Kyle Williamson, former head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration office in El Paso, Texas, described the gang as a significant criminal threat, with reports of their entry across the border.

However, it remains uncertain whether the gang has established a presence in Chicago, as organized criminal activities often take time to develop.