The Tren de Aragua gang from Venezuela is rapidly expanding its reach in the United States. Since appearing in Chicago in late 2023, the gang had quickly extended to New York, Colorado, Georgia, California, and at least 13 other US states, committing crimes both violent and otherwise along the way. Now the gang has surfaced in one of the states most remote from our southern border, over which most have illegally crossed.
Earlier this month, police in West Fargo, North Dakota, arrested a suspected TdA member named Henry Theis, 25. In a traffic stop prompted by a broken taillight, the officers discovered more than $24,000 in cash, two face masks, black latex gloves, wires, and a computer keyboard. Theis later admitted to having used some of those items to hack into an ATM at a local bank to steal the cash, the total coming out to be $150,000.
West Fargo Police Chief Pete Neilsen criticized the federal government for not taking charge of the case, saying:
When you have someone that comes into your community and steals $150,000, that’s an illegal alien, and then leaves. One would think that the feds would step in and say, “You know, I’m going to take this one.”
It turns out that Theis had entered the US illegally at El Paso last year. He was soon released after receiving a court date. He then was arrested again, in August of this year in Lewisville, Texas, for DWI. At that point he was released a second time. Finally, after the most recent arrest, ICE placed a detainer on him in the West Fargo jail, and he was released into their custody. No one knows what his eventual fate will be, though the incoming Trump administration has promised deportation for all illegal migrants, beginning with the ones who commit other illegal acts. The deportations can come none too soon.
For more, see the NY Post.