AURORA, Colo — The Aurora Police Department said it has assigned detectives to a special task force to investigate a Venezuelan gang’s alleged connections to the city.
The announcement came during a city council public safety meeting on Thursday.
“We have stood up a task force specific to this group,” said APD Acting Deputy Chief Chris Juul. “We are actively looking at who they are, what they’re doing, how many are there, what is the reality of the situation compared to what the other public information that’s going on around out there nationally is.”
The gang, known as Tren de Aragua, started out as a prison gang in Venezuela and has expanded throughout the Western Hemisphere. Last month, the Biden administration designated the gang as a transnational criminal organization, accusing it of engaging in human smuggling and trafficking, gender-based violence, money laundering and illicit drug trafficking.
"The Aurora Police Department, in partnership with the RAVEN Task Force, has assigned four detectives to a special task force that includes additional local, state, and federal partners to investigate violent crime impacting our migrant community," said an Aurora PD spokesperson late Thursday.
In recent days, social media has been flooded with accusations that the Tren de Aragua gang had taken over an Aurora apartment complex the city is closing near Colfax and Peoria. Those claims have not been confirmed by either Aurora PD or the City of Aurora.
The property, located at 1568 Nome Street, is home to a large immigrant population.
Aurora
City of Aurora plans to quickly close apartment complex, citing code violations
The City of Aurora said the site is closing due to a long list of code violations dating back years, but some Aurora City Council members allege there’s more to the story.
“We are not buying this,” said Aurora City Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky. “We believe that yes, there are code violations, but this started because of a gang takeover. That's what we believe.”
Property management claims the gang has taken over the site. An investor with the property told Denver7 the site had become too dangerous for staff to work there. Tenants confirmed they have not seen the manager on site for some time.
“We’ve been trying to get in touch with the manager. He quit and we have no manager,” said Shayra Caez.
Caez said most of the tenants are good people.
“I know it's been shootings here, but it's not because of people from here. It's people from other places that come here looking for problems,” said Caez.
On Wednesday, Caez and other residents pitched in to pay to remove some of the trash piling up in the parking lot.
Aurora
Several newcomers among tenants forced out of condemned Aurora apartments
According to statistics provided by an Aurora city spokesman, calls for service at 1568 Nome Street have increased in recent years. In 2022, APD investigated 41 crimes at the site. In 2023, police investigated 84 crimes. As of July 31, officers have investigated 66 crimes at the property so far this year.
At a public safety meeting Thursday, Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman once again pointed to code violations as the reason the city was closing the complex.
“I know that the owners are talking about that it’s a gang issue, [but] the problems there go way back,” said Coffman.
On Tuesday, the city provided Denver7 and other news outlets with dozens of documents highlighting code violations at the property.
Jurinsky said she and other council members did not buy code violations as the sole reason the city was closing the apartment complex. She said she has spoken with police officers, residents and the property owner.
“Do I believe that there are code violations on this property? Absolutely. And I do believe that with the condition that the property is in now, I do in fact believe it's uninhabitable,” said Jurinsky. “But I think the city is trying to solely put this on the property owner for code violations. And my colleagues and I, we simply don't believe it.”
An ICE spokesperson told Denver7 on Thursday that it is aware of crimes Tren de Aragua has committed recently.
“Homeland Security Investigations is committed to investigating, disrupting, and dismantling transnational gangs and prioritizes work to combat emerging threats related to them. HSI is aware of recent violent crime and arrests involving individuals allegedly associated with the Tren de Aragua gang and continues to assess emerging trends and assist partner law enforcement agencies," the spokesperson said.
Anyone with information related to gang activity can submit an anonymous report by calling the HSI tip line at 877-4-HSI-TIP.
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