Who are the Tren De Aragua?
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — The Tren De Aragua, or T.D.A has been making headlines all across the state. T.D.A has a long history.
David Rausch the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director said “The history of this gang is that they started in the Venezuelan prisons. That is where they started. In those prisons they had so much power the government started working with them and allowing them to control the prisons.”
How did T.D.A arrive in the US?
“They have taken advantage of our current immigration system in the US. Where Venezuela’s can come in and claim asylum. They have, as well, utilized the criminal network to bring in and to smuggle victims,” said Director Rausch.
The TDA has made their way to Tennessee but they have not settled in Hamilton County yet.
Sheriff Austin Garrett said that that is not going to happen.
He said, “We have to understand that they settle in places where they feel comfortable and we are not going to let them feel comfortable here. Our intention is to disrupt that and make sure they keep moving. They may be in Atlanta tonight, and the next night they may be in Hamilton county in a hotel, and the next night in Kentucky. They move around for one of the reasons is to avoid law enforcement.”
However the T.D.A is not a typical gang.
Chief of Police John Chambers broke down what type of gang the T.D.A. is.
“What we are used to seeing in Chattanooga is typically our inner city gangs. When people here this gang is in our area that is what everybody immediately goes too and that is just not how this gang operates. It is more of an international network. It is closer to a Mafia type, where their objective is to make money and they are going to make money however they can, wherever they can,” said Chambers.
The TBI said not to focus on trying to identify TDA members, they want people to instead monitor signs of human trafficking.
Rausch said, “We have a website ‘It Has To Stop.’ If you go there you will find all the warning signs of human trafficking and that is where we are seeing them operate in the space in Tennessee and that is the human trafficking space.”
