An alleged sex trafficker known as “La Barbie” was reportedly arrested last month after she was linked to a Texas prostitution ring run by Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

A leaked Border Patrol memo said authorities nabbed Estefania Primera in El Paso, Texas, on Sept. 27, according to the New York Post.

The memo said Barbie, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, oversaw the gang’s prostitution racket at the Gateway Hotel, which authorities shut down over human trafficking concerns.

One victim told police that Ms. Primera made her pass out by drugging her with fentanyl, according to the memo. The victim said she woke up to multiple men gang-raping her.

The woman tried to run away, the memo said, but she was strong-armed back into the hotel. Ms. Primera is accused of beating the woman for trying to get away.

The memo also said Ms. Primera used her five young children to hold and sell drugs. She was arrested while she was out with her five children last month.

Ms. Primera crossed into El Paso illegally in August 2023 and quickly ditched her ankle monitor, the Post reported.

The gang has been linked to prostitution rings in multiple other states, including California, Illinois and Nevada, according to the Post.

The rings use the illegal immigrant women they smuggle across the border by forcing them into sex work to pay off their border debt, the newspaper reported.

Tren de Aragua has developed a notorious reputation in the short time since it has been in the U.S.

Suspected gang members have been linked to murder-for-hire plots in Florida, the strangling of a 12-year-old girl in Houston, and shooting attacks on police officers in New York City.

Former President Donald Trump catapulted the gang into the national spotlight last month when he mentioned the gang’s name during the lone presidential debate with Democratic challenger, Vice President Kamala Harris.

Mr. Trump’s comments were made after armed gang members were seen going door-to-door in a Denver suburb and taking over apartment buildings.

• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.