Members of a gang with ties to Venezuela were arrested and indicted on weapons charges after an investigation uncovered a gun-trafficking ring that sold firearms, as well as drugs, throughout New York City, officials said.
Arrested were 10 members of Tren de Aragua, a gang that originated in Venezuela, with branches now in New York City, Texas and Colorado, as well as in some Latin American countries neighboring Venezuela.
Most of the gang members were busted in the Bronx, along with one in Brooklyn, one in Monroe, in the Hudson Valley, plus two out of state, in Houston and Miami. The gun-trafficking operation occurred in Queens, Manhattan and the Bronx. They relied on the use of rental vehicles to come up the iron pipeline and sell them to people in the City of New York. Due to the success of this investigation, those plans never came to fruition. Many of the weapons were sold in broad daylight, including several transactions that took place in a shopping center parking lot in College Point.
During another sale, an AR semiautomatic rifle was placed in a garbage bag and sold in the middle of the afternoon in the Bronx. To coordinate the transactions, gang members communicated on WhatsApp, officials said. The Tren de Aragua gang has been linked to a series of kidnappings, extortion and other crimes throughout the Western Hemisphere.
Its spread to the U. Tren De Aragua members have been among targets of Trump administration immigration raids. Two of the defendants have yet to be apprehended, officials said. The U. Track school closings and delays for Friday, Jan. The new sandwich, available in February and March only, offers a blend of sweetness and spice.
