The feds used mob-fighting racketeering laws to arrest 27 alleged members of a dangerous street gang known as Tren de Aragua.
They’ve been indicted on charges ranging from racketeering, sex trafficking, narcotics, robbery, carjacking and firearms possession, authorities said Tuesday.
The indictments were a result of cooperation between the NYPD and Homeland Security Investigations personnel, officials said.
The indictment was used by White House “border czar” Tom Homan and New York City Mayor Eric Adams to cement their partnership in ridding the city of migrants who commit crimes. They also used it as an occasion to insist that opening an ICE office on Rikers Island is the right thing to do.
“Today, you see one step, one small step, and many more steps to come to make this country safe, and help Mayor Adams and the police commissioner in any way to rid this city of illegal alien public safety threats and national security threats,” Homan said.
Homan took the lead in announcing the indictment. Charges included smuggling young women, called multadas, from Venezuela into Peru and the United States for use in the sex trade, trafficking controlled substances including a mixed street drug that contains ketamine, helping associates to flee prosecution, intimidating and threatening violence against potential witnesses, and armed robberies.
He also extolled his partnership with Adams.