CO City Official Sounds Alarm On Venezuelan Gang Takeover: ‘Entire Complexes Under Gang Control’

Parts of Aurora, Colorado, a suburb just nine miles east of Denver, are being overtaken by a violent Venezuelan gang, a city official told Fox News.

Denver’s sanctuary city policies are being blamed for the migrant crisis spilling over into the suburbs and bringing with it a rise in violent crimes and sex trafficking. The Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, has even taken control of apartment complexes in the city, according to Aurora City Council Member Danielle Jurinsky.

“We currently have entire complexes under gang control — complexes where staff have been beaten up, they’ve been threatened, their families have been threatened [and] complexes where there are no staff left on the property. These complexes are being run by this Tren de Aragua gang,” said Jurinsky.

“They start brokering apartments themselves when someone leaves out of fear or whatever. They go in and take pictures of the apartment themselves,” she continued. “Then, I’ve been told, within hours, a Venezuelan family moves in.”

Jurinksy added, “Parts of [Aurora] are under this gang control.”

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“The local media is downplaying this,” she said. “I believe politics is being played with people’s lives. … Nothing is being done to help the American citizens that are being trapped under this gang’s control.”

The Tren de Aragua gang has members across the country and is known for its brutality. One of its members, Jose Ibarra, was charged with murdering Georgia nursing student Laken Riley. Another Tren de Aragua gang member, Jhonardy Jose Pacheco-Chirino, was arrested after beating a man at an Aurora apartment complex, according to police. He was arrested again after a shooting that injured two men, the New York Post reported.

Aurora has sought to stop illegal immigrants from getting bused to the “non-sanctuary city,” and the city council passed a resolution pledging that there would be no handouts for migrants in the city. The Post reported that Denver leads the country in new migrant arrivals per capita. Since December 2022, more than 40,000 illegal immigrants have arrived in the Mile High City.

Abe Laydon, a county commissioner in Douglas County — just south of Denver — said that Denver’s sanctuary city policies still affect the suburbs.

“Not too long ago, we saw this influx of 40,000 migrants [to Denver],” Laydon said. “Douglas County rang the bell and said, ‘Look, from a common sense perspective, it’s impossible that wouldn’t have a huge impact on resources in the Denver metro area – and it did.”

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Laydon said that Douglas County outlawed unscheduled bus stops and prohibited buses from San Antonio from dropping off migrants in the area. A Colorado state law passed in 2019, however, cripples local officials by preventing them from working directly with Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE).

“Our local law enforcement would like the ability to communicate with local immigration officials,” Laydon said. “We have been apprised that there has absolutely been an increase in property crimes, assault and trafficking, and it’s specific issues with the cartels coming out of Venezuela.”

In April, Denver city officials cut police, sheriff, and fire department spending to allocate more funding for the illegal immigrants who have arrived there. To pay for the “Newcomer Program Strategy,” Denver Democratic Mayor Mike Johnston announced cuts to police spending by $8.4 million and fire department spending by $2.5 million.