FIRST ON FOX: A top law enforcement official in Tennessee is warning that the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua is operating in the state and conducting human trafficking -- the latest indicator of a growing footprint by the bloodthirsty gang.
"We've seen, in the past few months, a resurgence of intelligence information that tells us they are operating in our state. They are operating in the human trafficking space," Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch said.
Rausch made the comments on the "Unmuted with Marsha" podcast with Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., video of which was shared with Fox News Digital. Blackburn noted the recent arrest of a Tren de Aragua fugitive from Venezuela with a history of violent crimes in Tennessee.
Tren de Aragua is believed to have started in the Tocoron prison in the Venezuelan state of Aragua and has since expanded into Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and the U.S.
They are believed to have grown exponentially with the surge of Venezuelan migrants into the U.S. Numerous crimes in the last year have been linked to TdA, in states including Georgia, Illinois, Texas, Colorado and New York.
Rausch said that in 2022, his agents first came across the gang in Tennessee and made arrests in 2023, and over time they encountered victims who provided additional intelligence about the gang’s operations in Tennessee and elsewhere throughout the U.S. He told Blackburn that they appeared to briefly leave the state, but have since returned.
"What they're doing is, they bring in these females, Venezuelan females, and they're bringing them into the country. They're smuggling them in, bringing them into the country. Some of them, they're bringing in, exploiting our system, where they'll come in and claim that they are fleeing the dictatorship and the challenges that exist in Venezuela," he said.
NEW REPORT WARNS BLOODTHIRSTY VENEZUELAN GANG'S FOOTPRINT WILL REMAIN IN US ‘FOR DECADES’
Rausch said that his agency has conducted two major operations where it had located TdA members in the Nashville area. However, he did caution about the extent of their presence and said that it wasn’t as intense as it is in other states like Colorado.
"Most recently, when we were expressing that we knew they were in Tennessee, and they're operating in our major cities, that caused a lot of challenge, a lot of people got upset about that. They immediately went to thinking, 'This is TDA that is taking over apartment complexes, as we've seen in other cities.' We're not there yet, but we don't want to get there," he said.
Rausch warned that the gang typically starts with human trafficking and moves to other crimes like organized retail crime and theft, before getting into the drug trade and becoming increasingly violent against other cartels.
"We certainly don't want to see it anywhere in the country, but my responsibility primarily is here in Tennessee, and so we don't want that happening. And so I raised the alarm that we know they're here operating human trafficking. We want to stop them at this point, where we can right now," he said.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS
Blackburn asked about solutions to the crisis, and mentioned her own legislation that would encourage local law enforcement co-operation with the federal government when they encounter a criminal illegal immigrant.
"When someone is committing crimes in your country, and they're in the country illegally, of course, you need to deport them," Blackburn said.
Rausch noted also that returning migrants to their countries of origin can be difficult when they don’t accept them.
"What do we do with these individuals? Do we hold them here in the U.S. prison until that situation in whatever country it is they came from that we can't send them back to, that we figure that out? What is the answer to that?" he asked.
The conversation comes ahead of what is expected to be a historic deportation operation by the incoming Trump administration. Trump this week announced additional picks for his border security team, including former Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott as his choice to lead Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
During the presidential election campaign, Trump said he intends to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to target and dismantle "every illegal migrant criminal network operating on American soil."
