As RedState’s Ward Clark has reported extensively, apartment buildings in Aurora, Colorado, have reportedly been taken over by the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, whose members charge rent on the apartments they have seized, sell drugs, and engage in sex trafficking. Residents have reported that they feel helpless and that no one has come to their aid.
Assistance came Wednesday in the form of the Aurora PD, who announced that eight of the gang members were taken into custody and two more were being sought. A joint statement was released by Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman and Council Member and Public Safety Chair Danielle Jurinsky with the "full endorsement" of the city manager and Aurora Police Department:
"For some time, well before concerns about TdA in Colorado generated national attention, APD had been arresting people for various criminal activities who had suspected, but not necessarily confirmed, TdA connections. To date, APD has now linked 10 people to TdA and has arrested eight of those people," read the statement.
These guys don't look like friendly neighbors. Click on the tweet to see each of their names and what they're accused of.
The statement continued:
"Two of the eight individuals who were taken into custody were involved in a July shooting at one of the specific properties in the city that have experienced issues with TdA activity. In line with these arrests, we can also now confirm that criminal activity, including TdA issues, had significantly affected those properties."
Tren de Aragua is a Venezuelan prison gang, and many of its members here in the U.S. are illegal aliens. Charges include child abuse, attempted first-degree murder, illegal discharge of a firearm, and more.
Colorado is a sanctuary state, and the Biden-Harris regime has virtually put a welcome mat at the southern border, leading to such gang activity becoming more and more of a problem. Authorities are also investigating gang Tren de Aragua action in Arapahoe County and Denver.
The Democrats and the media keep trying to tell us it isn't happening—an Axios headline Wednesday reads, "Unfounded Venezuelan gang rumors spill into national immigration debate"—but video such as this doesn't make it look unfounded to me:
It's encouraging that authorities finally seem to be taking this problem seriously and are cracking down. The question remains, though: why was this allowed to happen in the first place? The answer: "sanctuary state" ridiculousness and Biden-Harris' complete dismantling of former President Trump's border policies. I highly doubt this is the last we'll hear of such problems.