New York State National Guard troops are being told to check all migrants arriving in the Big Apple for distinctive tattoos linking them to the vicious Venezuelan “Tren de Aragua” street gang, The Post has learned.
The decree comes as the NYPD this week issued a “Situational Awareness Alert” warning that the brutal gang is increasingly making its presence known in the five boroughs — with members claiming asylum at the US border and flocking to New York to join other gangbangers.
“It’s to a point that they had to post policies on use of force like if we were in a combat zone,” one National Guard source told The Post on Wednesday.
According to the NYPD alert, “Tren de Aragua” — Spanish for Aragua Train, a shout-out to the gang’s origins as a railroad labor union in Aragua, Venezuela — is growing in numbers in the Big Apple and now firmly on the police radar.
“Tren de Aragua’s newly established presence in New York City may incite further gang-related violence — including stabbings, assaults and robberies — raising public safety concerns,” the alert said.
“Given the potential threat posed by TdA’s growing presence in the city, the [NYPD Intelligence and Counter Terrorism Bureau] recommends members of the service maintain situational awareness of
symbols and iconography used by the gang to identify local activity and trends,” it said.
“Should you identify any of the symbols or iconography below and would like real-time assistance, please coordinate with your precinct Field Intelligence Team.”
According to the department, gang member tattoos include the Nike logo of NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan along with his uniform number of 23 — with the number referring to “23 de Enero,” or 23 of January, a Venezuelan neighborhood that spawned a revolutionary group in the 1980s.
Other common gang tats include a crown, weapons like AK-47 assault rifles, stars and gas masks.
Some “Tren de Aragua” members wear tattoos with the initials “HJ,” for “Hijos de Dios,” or Sons of God, which can be part of the gang’s lingo, or the phrase, “Hasta la Muerte,” or Until Death, in body ink.
The warnings have been passed on to about 2,000 National Guard members across the state who are assigned to patrol duties at hotels and shelters housing thousands of asylum seekers.
New York City alone has seen more than 170,000 migrants from the US border flooding in, with more than 65,000 still in city care — including a large contingent of Venezuelans.
The Post reported this week that “Tren de Aragua” members have been among them, and could be behind a lucrative crew of moped-riding thieves terrorizing the city.
According to the report, gang members are crossing the US border with Mexico, claiming asylum and making a bee line for New York, where they recruit other migrants for their criminal enterprise.
The ringleader of one migrant robbery crew told cops the two-wheeled crime spree “is much bigger than me” when he was picked up by police earlier this month — and said he regularly travels to Florida to deliver the proceeds from the New York City heists.
Law enforcement sources said stolen phones, cash and other pilfered goods are then sent to Colombia through a Texas-based shipping company run by a Venezuelan husband and wife team.