The violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua has expanded to Utah, according to a report from the New York Post.
Carlos Moreno, who is running for Salt Lake County Council in District 2, told the Post that the gang has been linked to crimes in the city. One of these crimes is an alleged prostitution ring.
“Our law enforcement people are not ready,” Moreno told The Post previously.
“They are not ready yet to face these kinds of gangs in Utah because the way that they do things are totally different than the criminals here in the United States,” the city council hopeful continued.
“That’s why people right now are very afraid. And they don’t want these kinds of people in the United States.”
That is not all. The Venezuelan gang is allegedly behind an assault and shooting that occurred on Sept. 22 (via NYP):
Four baby-faced suspected gang members — ranging in age from 19 to 21 — allegedly assaulted three victims, injuring two of the individuals, according to local news outlet KSL.
The thugs then went on a wild car chase with acquaintances of the assault victims that ended with the two vehicles colliding and a shootout, the outlet reported.
One of the acquaintances in the targeted vehicle sustained a shrapnel wound to the shoulder.
In October, three other suspected Tren de Aragua gangbangers allegedly broke into a home and threatened residents at gunpoint. One of the victims told officers that she was forced into prostitution by one of the suspects.
“We don’t want those people here … of course we are immigrants, we have a lot of people, decent people who are immigrants, but we don’t want that kind of immigration in the United States. They are criminals,” Moreno, who legally immigrated to the U.S. from Venezuela, told the Post.
The gang members “embedded themselves in the large waves of migrants who arrived at the US-Mexico border under the Biden administration,” the Post explained.
Previously, the gang made headlines for "taking over" apartment complexes and wreaking havoc on residents in Aurora, Colorado