Law enforcement has accused the notorious Venezuelan migrant gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) of recruiting illegal adolescent minors to commit crimes in New York City's Times Square.
The New York Post reported that the foreign gang is using these little thugs, some as young as 11 years old, to commit terrifying crimes against tourists and residents right in the heart of the city.
About two dozen of these young alien criminals have formed the rat-like gang, which is operating out of Manhattan shelters funded by city taxpayers to pull off their armed robberies in Times Square. The gang of illegal alien minors calls themselves the “Los Diablos de la 42,” which in Spanish translates to “Little Devils of 42nd Street.”
The 21 or so gang members have allegedly committed over 50 different crimes, despite police not arresting or charging even one member, said the NYPD. Since arriving in New York, TdA has escalated its activities from purse snatchings to blatantly committing gunpoint robberies against locals and tourists alike, due to the effective lack of response from the authorities.
“They kind of had a graduation of sorts, and a progression where originally it started as snatches and then went to strong-armed robberies, and then started brandishing knives in a pack format,” explained Detective Bureau Assistant Chief Jason Savino.
“You have individuals that are brazen,” Savino said, “We know they have access to guns, evident by the fact that they’ve done gunpoint robberies and they’ve been brazen enough to showcase pistols in and around their social media."
“This is the first formulated group that we found where this group of about 20 individuals that, in pack format, hang out every day, they post on social media, they boast about their crew,” he added.
“You see little pockets in and around Times Square and in and around the shelters," he continued. "But as far as a true threshold, it’s been limited to shelters.”
The juvenile thugs are controlled by an older gangster, who recruits younger gang members to carry out robberies and has them bring back the stolen property.
Savino told the Post that members of the gang are getting away with their crimes and avoiding jail time because of their juvenile status and lenient New York State bail laws.
“It’s a product of bail reform,” Savino said. “We tried to try some in criminal court, somewhat unsuccessfully.”
TdA has taken advantage of the Biden Administration's open-border policies to illegally enter the country and criminally infest city centers across the country. The Venezuelan criminal gang gained notoriety nationwide when it seized and violently occupied residential properties on American soil.
Recently released surveillance camera footage showed their violent takeover of several apartment complexes in Aurora, Colo.
The footage showed the gun-toting illegal aliens going door to door, forcing local residents to open their apartments or face a violent break-in. They are now extorting rent directly from the residents, while other gangsters have begun squatting in vacant units.
Meanwhile, authorities in New York are beginning to worry that a gang war could break out between TdA and the established New York-based gang, the Latin Kings. The Latin Kings have had a longstanding rivalry with the newcomers after a member of the gang allegedly shot and killed a TdA member.
The NYPD said that the likelihood of an all-out gang war is now dangerously close, as the Venezuelan gang builds up its presence in the city.
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