Corrupt Venezuelan officials facilitated Tren de Aragua gangs reign of terror in US
A newly released intelligence assessment has found that some Venezuelan government officials “facilitated” the illegal migration of members of the brutal Venezuelan criminal gang Tren De Aragua into the United States “to advance what they see as the Maduro regime’s goal of destabilizing governments and undermining public safety.”However, while Venezuela’s “permissive environment enables TDA to operate… the Maduro regime probably is not systematically directing Venezuelan outflows, such as to sow chaos in receiving countries,” says the April memo from the National Intelligence Council, released Monday by the ODNI.The memo waters down an earlier FBI assessment that the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is specifically directing TdA activities in the U.S.But an ODNI source says that the bureau’s intelligence is the most “robust and accurate given their focus on domestic security and crimes, versus limited intelligence assessments from other intelligence elements who by law focus solely on foreign intelligence collection, and who until President Trump took office, had very limited resources focused on TdA.”The Department of Homeland Security has identified more than 600 Venezuelan migrants in the U.S.with likely ties to TdA who crossed the border illegally during Joe Biden’s presidency.“From 2021 to 2024 there was a spike in Venezuelan encounters at the US-Mexico border, in which some TDA members could have been present as they have generally moved with Venezuelan migrant communities and profit from human trafficking and migrant smuggling,” says the IC assessment.The Venezuelan government gives sanctuary to TdA, “aiding and abetting their crimes and terrorist activities against the United States by enabling them to thrive.” Two Tren de Aragua illegal aliens have been charged with the rape and murder of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray in Texas in June 2024.In Colorado, in August 2024, armed Tren de Aragua gang members were ca...