Tren de Aragua crackdown: 8 Venezuelan gang members indicted for sex trafficking

The crackdown connected the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) continues crossed the nation, and instrumentality enforcement officials announced the indictment of 8 members accused of aggregate national crimes successful Tennessee.

Robert McGuire, the acting United States lawyer for the Middle District of Tennessee, on with bureau leaders from the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD), Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), FBI, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced the details of the indictment during a property league Tuesday.

McGuire said the indictment alleges that each 8 defendants conspired to transport women from South America into the United States and forced those women to prosecute successful prostitution. 

Officials besides allege the trafficking was portion of a strategy to beforehand an unlawful prostitution endeavor successful the Middle District of Tennessee.

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The U.S. Attorney's Office and instrumentality enforcement agencies successful Tennessee announced the indictment of aggregate radical successful the authorities with ties to the Venezuelan pack Tren de Aragua. (Left: Obtained by New York Post; Center: Edward Romero; Right: DEA)

"We volition not basal by and let TdA oregon immoderate transgression enactment to get a stronghold successful Tennessee. They are not going to beryllium here. They volition not beryllium allowed to perpetrate transgression here. We volition hunt these atrocious actors down," TBI Director David B. Rausch vowed. 

"We volition dismantle them, and we volition enactment with each instrumentality that we person nether the instrumentality to clasp these convulsive criminals perfectly accountable for my chap Tennesseans," Rausch added. "Rest assured, this is an ongoing cooperative enactment involving our Tennessee chiefs and sheriffs passim the state. Together, we are moving to support and amended the information of our communities and the Volunteer State."

Officials announced that 3 of the defendants were besides charged with conspiring to perpetrate enactment trafficking by utilizing "force, fraud, and coercion to compel their information successful amerciable commercialized enactment acts."

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McGuire said this was each done for the nett of the defendants. The indictment besides charges 1 suspect with unlawful possession of guns by an amerciable alien. 

"As of this morning, each charged defendants are successful national custody," McGuire said. 

Officials said the defendants lured women from South America with mendacious promises of a amended beingness successful the U.S., describing however they were bullied, intimidated and threatened to person enactment with strangers for amerciable profits.

The indictment besides alleges 2 of the charged defendants utilized their affiliation with TdA to intimidate the victims into continuing to commit commercialized enactment acts, claiming "they had skyrocketing debts, debts that nary idiosyncratic could ever pay, and that the lone mode to debar those debts was to person enactment with strangers for money."

Officials said they are "committed to moving with their partners to successfully analyse and prosecute these heinous gangs successful Tennessee."

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Prior to the property conference, FBI agents from the Houston and Nashville branch, on with HSI officials, arrested 3 suspects who are believed to besides beryllium tied to the convulsive TdA pack successful Houston Tuesday morning.

"FBI Houston agents and HSI Houston assisted FBI Nashville with arresting 3 suspected Tren de Aragua associates successful Houston this morning," FBI Houston wrote successful a station connected X.

"Those arrested were allegedly portion of a multi-state TdA enactment trafficking ringing that threatened and abused victims."

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) besides announced the apprehension of a TdA pack subordinate who is suspected of being linked to a wide shooting successful Chicago.

According to a spokesperson for ICE, Ricardo Padillia-Granadillo, 24, an illegally contiguous Venezuelan national, was arrested Feb. 8 successful Raleigh.

Granadillo illegally entered the U.S. adjacent El Paso, Texas, connected Oct. 1, 2022, and was encountered by the U.S. Border Patrol, paroled into the state and fixed a announcement to appear, officials said. But helium failed to amusement up for his migration assignment scheduled for Sept. 12, 2024, and the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas issued an apprehension warrant.

Law enforcement officers with ICE, Border Patrol, Customs and Border Protection’s Air and Marine Operations and the U.S. Marshals Service arrested Granadillo astatine a location successful Raleigh without incidental and recovered a handgun, ammunition and 10 different Venezuelan aliens successful the location while conducting the apprehension operation.

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White House property caput Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that much than 8,000 immigrants person been arrested since Jan. 20 arsenic portion of Trump's program to detain and deport immigrants successful the state illegally, though hundreds of those arrested person since been released backmost into the U.S.

Trump said the Venezuelan authorities has besides agreed to judge "all Venezuela amerciable aliens who were encamped successful the U.S., including pack members of Tren de Aragua," and wage for their flights home.

Fox News Digital's Adam Shaw and Landon Mion contributed to this report. 

Stepheny Price is simply a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. Story tips and ideas tin beryllium sent to stepheny.price@fox.com