A violent transnational gang from Venezuela allegedly first gained a "stranglehold" on an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado, late last year, according to a local report.
Tren de Aragua gang members took over the Whispering Pines Apartments in 2023, engaging in violent assaults, murder threats, extortion, child prostitution and strongarm tactics, Denver law firm Perkins Coie wrote to city leaders in a nine-page report obtained by CBS News Colorado.
The firm was hired to investigate the alleged gang takeover of the apartment building, the outlet said, and interviewed witnesses and reviewed video footage from the complex prior to issuing its report.
"The evidence we have reviewed indicates that gang members are engaging in flagrant trespass violations, assaults and battery, human trafficking and sexual abuse of minors, unlawful firearms possession, extortion, and other criminal activities, often targeting vulnerable Venezuelan and other immigrant populations," T. Markus Funk, a former U.S. Attorney, wrote in the letter.
The firm interviewed the apartment complex’s property manager, who said "he had never seen anything remotely like the Tren De Aragua takeover of Whispering Pines in his entire career."
The property manager, who has 15 years of experience, told the firm that two gang members were arrested as they were "coming to kill him" over an apparent late rent payment.
He also detailed how the gang was collecting "rent" from residents, and allegedly stabbed one individual for refusing to pay. In June, the gang members approached the property manager with an offer to help him if he paid the gang 50% of what was collected in rent, the report said.
"This is our business plan," one gang member allegedly told a housekeeper who spoke to the firm. "If he [the property manager] doesn't like it, we'll fill him with bullets."
Vacant units at the apartment complex were used to host "parties" where the gang provides "drugs and child prostitution," the property manager told firm investigators, adding that "minors are a good source of money."
AURORA POLICE REACT TO ALLEGED VENEZUELAN GANG PRESENCE AT APARTMENTS: ‘HAVE NOT TAKEN OVER’
Alleged gang activity in at least two apartment complexes in Aurora has sparked intense scrutiny in recent days after a surveillance video went viral showing heavily armed men kicking down an apartment door.
The Tren de Aragua is based mainly in Venezuela and has roughly 5,000 members between the South American country and the United States.
Last week, the Aurora Police Department refuted the claim that Tren de Aragua gang members had taken over one complex, The Edge at Lowry, though said that authorities were aware of the gang’s alleged criminal activity in the area.
The department announced a special task force appointed in August to help combat the presence of Tren de Aragua.
On Wednesday, police shared the names and photos of two documented Tren de Aragua gang members and two suspected members who were arrested in July for attempted murder.
Happy to see the @AuroraPD finally start to tell the truth and make arrests!" Aurora City Council member Danielle Jurinsky wrote on X. "Aurora citizens deserve to feel safe!"
Fox News Digital’s Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.
