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Fox News
02-07-2025
- Fox News
FBI takes down Anti-Tren gang members in largest bust yet in violent migrant turf war
Federal officials on Monday arrested 16 members of the Anti-Tren gang, a rival of the violent Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua (TdA), in Texas in what is being described as the largest Anti-Tren crackdown yet. Of those 16 gang members, 14 are charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 5 kilograms of cocaine, and two are charged separately with various weapons offenses based on their alleged possession and sale of firearms, according to the Justice Department. "These arrests are the largest takedown of suspected Anti-Tren members and associates by the FBI, so far, and they happened right here in Houston," FBI Houston Special Agent in Charge Douglas Williams said in a Monday statement. "These individuals are accused of engaging in a turf war with TdA members and carrying out numerous violent crimes throughout our city, including a mass shooting at a local sports bar that left six people wounded." Charges alleged that Anti-Tren is a criminal organization mostly composed of former TdA members known for its deadly turf wars, as well as gun and drug trafficking. "The Southern District's twin priorities are securing our border and the eradication of violent crime. This case implicates both," U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei said in a Monday statement. "Operation Take Back America means going on the offensive against transnational criminal organizations to ensure that they cannot take root in our community and endanger public safety. SDTX is going to be unapologetic in carrying out that mission." If convicted on the drug charges, the suspects face up to life in prison and a possible $10 million fine. Those charged separately with firearms offenses could receive up to 15 years in prison. Jose Miguel Briceno, a 25-year-old illegal immigrant from Venezuela living in Houston, is also charged separately with unlawful possession of ammunition by an alien after he was allegedly involved in a mass shooting in March at the Latinas Sports Bar club in Houston, where six people were wounded, including four in critical condition. Briceno is accused of using a firearm to shoot inside the doorway of the bar and then discarding the gun. Officials were unable to locate the weapon. He faces up to 15 years in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine if convicted. The U.S. Attorney's Office is prosecuting the case with the Department of Justice's Joint Task Force Vulcan (JTFV), which was created to combat MS-13 and expanded to include TdA under Attorney General Pam Bondi. The 16 arrests come as part of Operation Take Back America, "a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime," according to the DOJ.
Fox News
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Emerging Venezuelan gang 'more violent' than Tren de Aragua targets rural America, expert warns
Print Close By Adam Sabes Published May 13, 2025 An emerging Venezuelan gang has the potential to be "more violent" than Tren de Aragua and target rural America, according to an expert. Members of the Venezuelan-based gang have formed the "Anti-Tren" gang, which federal authorities say is made up almost exclusively of former members of Tren de Aragua. In a newly unsealed April federal indictment, prosecutors accused 21 men of running drug and prostitution rings in New York City. According to the indictment, members of Anti-Tren "protect their power and territory through various criminal acts, which includes violence towards members of Tren de Aragua. "Preserving and protecting the power and territory of Anti-Tren and its members and associates through acts involving murder, assault, other acts of violence, and threats of violence, including acts of violence and threats of violence directed at members and associates of Tren de Aragua," the indictment states. TEXAS WOMAN ROBBED, PISTOL-WHIPPED IN RITZY DALLAS AREA BY ILLEGAL VENEZUELAN MIGRANTS WITH GANG TIES: REPORT Members of Anti-Tren are also enriched through illegal smuggling, which includes young Venezuelan women, sex trafficking of young women, drug trafficking and armed robberies, federal officials allege. Robert Charles, assistant secretary of state at the U.S. State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs from October 2003 to March 2005 and Maine gubernatorial candidate, told Fox News Digital he thinks the Anti-Tren group has the potential to become more violent than Tren de Aragua. "I've read some of the public accounts that suggest that this offshoot group is trying to distinguish itself by being more violent," Charles said. "With MS-13, they had various tests and things that they went through, and there were offshoots there that became more violent than the original group." Charles said gangs like Anti-Tren attempt to dominate an area geographically and one of the ways they accomplish that is through violence and intimidation. 11 ALLEGED TEEN TREN DE ARAGUA GANG MEMBERS ATTACK NYPD OFFICERS: POLICE "They are also doing violence in an environment which they're taking advantage of people. They're taking advantage of the homeless, they're taking advantage of rural America," Charles said of Anti-Tren. Charles said gangs like Anti-Tren are targeting rural parts of America because that's where they can "maximize their gain" with little risk. "We don't have the infrastructure in a very rural state to put patrols up through the northern part of the state and, frankly, to even keep drugs from coming in and the gangs from coming here," Charles said of his state, Maine. "Criminals are bad guys, but they are not stupid. And so what they look for is they look for opportunities to maximize their gain with the least possible risk." Charles said he thinks the group will be eager to get into fights with Tren de Aragua, which is why authorities need to work fast to quash the group. "I think right now their numbers are relatively modest," Charles said. "If you look away from it, if you pretend that it's not important, if you appease it instead of deterring it, then absolutely it will grow. That's just the nature of crime." The Anti-Tren gang has a presence that expands beyond New York City. In September 2024, a Texas woman was robbed at gunpoint, pistol-whipped and tied up in her Dallas-area home located in the ritzy neighborhood of Bluffview, where the average home value is $880,000, according to Zillow. The robbery happened around 10 p.m. on Sept. 21, 2024, after the woman had just returned home from dinner. The men involved in the incident allegedly targeted the woman in her driveway, forced her into her home, then tied her up at gunpoint, according to records obtained by Fox News. The men involved allegedly threatened to cut her fingers off. Using Google Translate to communicate with the victim, the suspects left the house with $75,000 worth of jewelry, a Ferragamo handbag, a Judith Leiber handbag, a Gucci purse, coins from a box inside the house and the victim's phone. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Documents obtained by Fox News at the time indicated that Manuel Hernandez-Hernandez, one of the men arrested, said the other men were part of the Anti-Tren gang, something the Dallas Police Department didn't comment on. Fox News Digital's Audrey Conklin contributed to this report. Print Close URL
