Concern is growing in Tennessee as reports emerge of the Venezuelan gang “Tren de Aragua” resurfacing in major cities across the state. Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) Director David Rausch delivered a briefing to Governor Bill Lee, highlighting the return of this group, known for its violent criminal activities including human trafficking and confrontations with other criminal organizations. As per a
WKRN report
, Rausch described “Tren de Aragua” as “very violent,” further elaborating that it “was created in the prisons in Venezuela.”
The gang, which was previously believed to have fled the state, has made a significant return, prompting the TBI to take action. “They are back in all of our major cities,” Rausch said in a statement obtained by
WSMV
. The TBI has connected their operations to a variety of crimes, from thefts in shopping areas to direct confrontations with cartels. The gang’s members, many of whom who had fled during an earlier crackdown by state law enforcement, are not causing violence in Tennessee more than in other states, as Rausch clarified to Governor Lee.
Rausch also underscored the degree of the gang’s violence by recounting one of their more publicized incidents caught on film. “Recently, there was a video that they shot, where they shot a cartel member 31 times in broad daylight on video and posted it to social media,” Rausch told
WKRN
. This stark example underlines the urgent need for a strategic response to this growing threat.
In response to the gang’s expanding influence, the Biden administration has named “Tren de Aragua” a “transnational criminal organization” and has put forward a $12 million reward for the arrest of its leaders. Governor Bill Lee, as reported by FOX 17 News, said he would review the budget requests from the TBI. Meanwhile, Congressman Andy Ogles, who has been tracking the issue, has shared his stance stating, “Every small town in America is a border town because of the immigration crisis,” as he told
FOX 17 News
.
As the TBI steps up its efforts to curtail the gang’s activities, communities across Tennessee are left confronting the reality of an escalating criminal presence, where safety and security are pitted against the backdrop of urban landscapes now shadowed by the specter of transnational violence.
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