Texas authorities apprehended a group of illegal border crossers on New Year’s Eve and later discovered four of them were Venezuelans belonging to the highly-dangerous Tren de Aragua gang.
On Dec. 31, the Texas Department of Public Safety (TxDPS) announced the arrests of 11 single, adult illegal aliens who entered Eagle Pass among a larger group of 22 people, some of whom were allegedly apart of ‘family units’ who were referred to U.S. Border Patrol.
Footage posted by TxDPS spokesman Lt. Chris Olivarez shows each illegal stating their name, country of origin, and intended destination in the U.S.
Four men in the video identified themselves as Venezuelan nationals hoping to reach two cities in Texas – Arlington and San Antonio.
TxDPS later discovered those men are known members of Tren de Aragua (TdA), a transnational criminal network founded and based in Venezuela.
“If not for Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star border mission, the support from the [Texas Legislature], & most importantly, the dedicated work by our DPS personnel, these 4 TdA members would have potentially made it to their final destination in Texas,” Lt. Olivarez stated.
Great work by our @TxDPS Troopers & Special Agents in the arrest & identification of 4 Tren de Aragua (TdA) members who illegally crossed the border in Eagle Pass, Texas, on New Year’s Eve. TdA remains an existential threat to public safety & the State of Texas is utilizing every… https://t.co/hKkqjJ5meF pic.twitter.com/9v9SyrVVif
— Chris Olivarez (@LtChrisOlivarez) January 3, 2025
The gangbangers were identified as Segundo Ocando-Mejia, 39; Pedro Luis Salazar-Cuervo, 27; Antonio Joe Urruttia-Rojas, 18; and Levi Jesus Urrutia-Blanco, 18.
Ocando-Mejia bore tattoos indicating he may hold rank within TdA.
“Earlier this week, Texas Department of Public Safety troopers identified and arrested four vicious TdA gang members attempting to illegally cross the border from Mexico into the state. I designated TdA as a foreign terrorist organization, and we will not tolerate this gang operating or gaining a foothold in Texas,” Gov. Abbott said in a press release.
“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.”
InfoWars frequently reports on the nefarious activities of Tren de Aragua within the U.S. and the surge of crime fueled by the ongoing Biden-Harris border invasion.