U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement targeted more than 100 members of a violent Venezuelan gang holed up in Colorado apartment complexes.
On Wednesday morning, ICE raided a minimum of three apartment buildings in Aurora that have reported Tren de Aragua activity, according to the Denver Post. The Edge at Lowry is the most notorious of the complexes that ICE raided, in addition to Whispering Pines and Fitzsimons Place apartments.
All of the buildings are operated by CBZ Management, an operations company that alleged in a lawsuit against Colorado in December it could not maintain the buildings due to gang activity.
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“We’re here today to conduct an at-large enforcement operation looking for Tren de Aragua, the gang members here from Venezuela,” acting ICE Director Caleb Vitello said in a video shared on social media. “Unfortunately, we have to come to the communities because we don’t get the cooperation we need from the jails.”
“It would be so much easier and so much safer for our officers and agents if we could take these people into custody from a safe environment, but if we have to come out into the community to do this, that’s what we’re gonna do,” he added.
It is unclear how many TdA suspects were arrested or detained as of Wednesday afternoon.
ICE personnel were supported by members of various other federal agencies during its operations on Wednesday, including the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Customs and Border Protection, and the FBI.
Aurora catapulted into the limelight in 2024 after then-GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump said on the campaign trail that TdA had infiltrated apartment complexes in the city, which lies on the outskirts of Denver.
At the time, his comments sparked a national debate about the extent of the gang’s influence in Aurora, with critics saying Trump was grossly exaggerating claims. Trump allies argued the city was a microcosm of the effects of the Biden administration’s relaxed border policies, letting dangerous criminals, including from TdA, into the country.
As he traveled the country last fall, Trump promised voters he would launch “Operation Aurora” if reelected and send ICE and federal authorities to Colorado and other states to remove TdA suspects, a pledge he followed through with following the election. Since Trump took office, ICE has conducted multiple raids targeting criminals in the country illegally for deportation, with Aurora being the latest such operation on Wednesday.
In January, nine TdA suspects were charged with second-degree kidnapping, first-degree assault, aggravated robbery, second-degree burglary, extortion, and menacing tenants at the Edge at Lowry.
Later that month, police arrested 40 illegal immigrants suspected to be TdA members in Denver, with authorities suggesting suspects had moved to the metropolis to escape scrutiny after initially setting up operations in Aurora.
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On Wednesday, federal agents also carried out raids in Denver, targeting TdA members in apartment complexes, including Cedar Run.
The Washington Examiner reached out to ICE for comment.