(The Center Square) – Texas has launched a reward program offering up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrests of Tren de Aragua gang members.
This is after Gov. Greg Abbott declared the gang a foreign terrorist organization and after Texas Department of Public Safety troopers have arrested gang members and a Democratic county attorney sued an El Paso hotel to have it shut down for allegedly harboring them.
“Tren de Aragua has spread terror and carnage in every country they’ve been in, and Texas will not allow them to gain a foothold in our state,” Gov. Greg Abbott said. He announced the reward “for any information that leads to the identification and arrest of known or suspected members of this gang who have been or are involved in heinous crimes. Texas will not let these thugs use our state as a base of operations to terrorize our citizens.”
Tren de Aragua gang members are known for brutal violence, murder, kidnapping, extortion, bribery and human and drug trafficking, Abbott said, and are linked to more than 100 law enforcement investigations nationwide.
TDA gang members have recently become entrenched in major cities nationwide, Abbott and other law enforcement officials argue, because after illegally entering the country, they were released into the U.S. because of Biden administration policies. Since fiscal 2021 through July, Venezuelan illegal border crossers total nearly 856,000, the greatest number in U.S. history, according to CBP data.
An additional 115,000 Venezuelans were granted parole through a program created by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The overwhelming majority are single military age adults, according to CBP data. The parole program has been directly linked to perpetrators committing violent crimes against Americans, including TDA gang members, who are being arrested nationwide, The Center Square reported.
In Texas, law enforcement officials have arrested more than 3,000 Venezuelan illegal border crossers; more than 200 are wanted, Abbott said.
Texas DPS Commander Steve McCraw said last week that Texas anti-gang centers already have ongoing criminal enterprise investigations against TDA. They’ve also asked federal partners to share information about Venezuelan migrants’ whereabouts.
“That’s very important, because unfortunately, you’re either a TDA member or a victim of TDA. This information would be extremely helpful in identifying additional TDA members and their victims,” McCraw said.
“With the public’s help, combined with the hard work of federal, state, and local law enforcement, we will capture these dangerous gang members and put them behind bars for good,” Abbott said.
To be eligible for the cash rewards, tipsters must provide information to authorities by either calling the Texas Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-252-TIPS (8477) or submitting a tip online through the Texas Department of Public Safety’s website.
All tips are anonymous regardless of how they are submitted; tipsters will be provided a tip number instead of using their name.
Callers’ anonymity is guaranteed by law. Each reward may be up to $5,000.
“Fugitives should be considered armed and dangerous. Texans should never try to apprehend a fugitive,” Texas DPS warns.
Texans also are encouraged to submit tips about individuals on Texas DPS’s 10 most wanted criminal illegal foreign nationals, with a reward of up to between $3,000 and $5,000. All of the men on the list are Hispanic and citizens of Honduras, Mexico and El Salvador. They are wanted for alleged violent crimes, including sex crimes against children.
Texans are also encouraged to submit tips about individuals on Texas DPS’s 10 most wanted fugitive list, also wanted for violent crimes, with rewards being offered of up to between $5,000 and $7,500. They are also encouraged to submit tips about individuals on DPS’s 10 most wanted sex offenders, with rewards being offered between $2,000 and $4,000.