The Bloodthirsty Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA), which terrorizes neighborhoods across the country, now operates in 16 states, according to a new Homeland Security memo cited by the New York Post.

The vicious gang has taken advantage of a lax southern border under the Biden-Harris administration, with many of its foot soldiers invading the United States and unleashing hell on unsuspecting communities.

The gang engaged in all manner of violent crimes, including murders, shootings of police officers, assaults, robberies and trafficking guns into migrant shelters.

The gang is also allegedly involved in drug trafficking and sex trafficking of migrant women in New York, and in some states, armed members of the gang have been takeover of apartment buildings.

HUMAN TRAFFICKING OPERATIONS OF VENEZUELAN GANGS SOAR IN TENNESSEE’S FOUR BIG CITIES

These images taken from a Customs and Border Protection intelligence bulletin show tattoos and identifiers for the Tren De Aragua. (ICE)

On “Fox and friends” On Friday, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch warned of a surge in TdA human trafficking in Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville and Chattanooga.

“This gang has exploited (the border)… They go from human trafficking to organized crime theft, then they move into drug trafficking, taking on the cartels in the very violent and bloody battles that they carried out.”

Earlier this month, Homeland Security announced it had arrested three TdA gangbangers – two in Colorado and one in Mexico – wanted for the murder of a 29-year-old man in Texas. Days earlier, police arrested three other TdA-linked suspects allegedly involved in the kidnapping and murder of a Texas man whose body was found in August.

And now, according to a New York Post report, the gang operates in an area that includes half the U.S. population.

As well as New York CityColorado and Texas, the gang is established in California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Tennessee and Wisconsin, most recently in Washington, DC, Virginia , in Montana and Wyoming, according to the report. , citing a Homeland Security memo.

The Homeland Security memo, titled “Tren de Aragua (TdA) Expansion Across the United States Presents Law Enforcement Challenges,” states that the gang has only increased its “ violent tendencies” as it spreads, according to the report.

New report warns bloodthirsty Venezuelan gang’s imprint will remain in US ‘for decades’

Alleged Tren de Aragua members were seen on surveillance footage shared by the El Paso County District Attorney’s Office at the Gateway Hotel. (KFOX14/El Paso County Prosecutor’s Office)

“As the population of Venezuelan nationals continues to increase, the potential for violent TdA migrants is highly likely,” the memo warns.

Fox News Digital has contacted Homeland Security for comment and a copy of the memo.

The memo explains how the gang is involved in lower-level fraud and theft schemes, then returns the stolen funds to South America “as a means to finance additional criminal enterprises,” the memo states, the New York Post reports.

In one case cited in the document, an alleged Tren de Aragua member withdrew $118,000 from a Florida bank account with “fraudulent check deposits” then wired the money to bank accounts in Venezuela before fraud is detected.

In another case in Virginia, Fairfax County police arrested three suspected gang members in August 2023 for shoplifting. One of the suspects had a fake Venezuelan ID and all three had the gang’s iconic tattoos, according to the Post.

Young teenagers are also believed to be members of the gang. The news comes amid a Homeland Security inspector general report released earlier this year confirming that the Biden-Harris administration lost track of tens of thousands of unaccompanied migrant children.

Suspected juvenile members of the Tren de Aragua, based at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York, allegedly attacked nearby Times Square in a series of robberies. (Obtained by the New York Post)

The report notes that as of May 2024, more than 291,000 unaccompanied migrant children had not received court summons. Additionally, more than 32,000 unaccompanied migrant children received summons but failed to appear for immigration court hearings.

Rausch said TdA has “no respect” for police and has attacked law enforcement across the United States. He added that law enforcement is limited in its efforts to crack down on TdA-related activity, especially if the suspects don’t have immigration “detainers.”

“If we come across them and they have a detainee on them, then we can take them into custody. But other than that, all we can do is monitor and make sure they’re not breaking the law. But it’s a challenge,” Rausch said, calling it a “cat and mouse” game that is becoming more and more dangerous.

Homeland Security recommended last month that more than 100 migrants identified with possible ties to the gang be placed on an FBI watch list, after the agency reported more than 600 with possible ties in total.

Migrants line up at San Diego’s southern border in June. Many Tren de Aragua members entered the United States illegally via the southern border. (Fox News)

The band reportedly began in the Tocoron prison in the Venezuelan state of Aragua, and has since spread to Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and the United States -United. In a statement, DHS said the identities emerged as part of an ongoing process. re-screening operation to fight against the gang.

Meanwhile, the Heritage Foundation, a conservative organization, issued a memo on Tren de Aragua, noting that it has become the latest transnational criminal organization to establish itself in the United States, a surge that coincided with the historic crisis on the southern border.

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“This is a gang whose propensity for violence and cruelty is well documented,” said the former Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Acting Commissioner Mark Morgan was quoted as saying.

“TdA is spreading its criminal operations like a slowly growing cancer across our country and unleashing a preventable crime wave that will last for decades,” he said.

The study also cites statistics from Venezuela showing there was a 25% drop in violent deaths between 2021 and 2022.

“It is not implausible to postulate a link with Venezuela’s exportation of thousands of young criminals, many of them to the United States,” according to the study.

Elizabeth Heckman and Adam Shaw of Fox News contributed to this report.