Violent Venezuelan gang now appears to be in the DC area
WASHINGTON (7News) — Alleged members of a violent gang that originated in Venezuela have operated in the D.C. area, WJLA confirmed
The gang is called TdA, or Tren de Aragua. It originated in the Venezuelan state of Aragua, where it operated out of a prison that it allegedly ran for years, to the point where it was able to install restaurants and a swimming pool inside the prison gates. Some consider the gang more powerful than the police in Venezuela.
As many Venezuelans have migrated to the United States to escape difficult living conditions under socialist President Nicolas Maduro, alleged members of TdA have made their way into the D.C. area, as well. They’ve been accused of violence in other parts of the country, and on Tuesday Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis confirmed his department arrested several suspected members of the gang in the past.
“They weren’t necessarily committing traditional gang-related crimes –– extortion, aggravated assault, robberies –– they were stealing,” Davis said. “We’re not seeing any violence associated with them yet. We want to keep it that way.”
This week, the New York Post reported that it had obtained a memo warning police and homeland security officials in Virginia about TdA.
It listed an arrest of three suspected members of the gang in Fairfax County on Aug. 6, 2023. Fairfax County police told WJLA that officers arrested 22-year-old Rogelio Noriega Solorzano, as well as Williams Lucena Martinez and Kevin Alvarez Alvarado, who are both 24 years old.
Fairfax County court records indicate the men face a number of charges, the most serious of which is grand larceny. They were allegedly caught by police with more than $9,000 worth of stolen merchandise in their car.
The court records indicate the men came down from New York, where they all were facing previous charges for alleged stealing. It appears all three were released on bail in Virginia, and then all three either did not show up for court or violated pretrial release conditions. All were then listed as fugitives.
Fairfax County police said that arrest was their only interaction so far with suspected members of the TdA gang. According to the memo obtained by the New York Post, all three men had tattoos consistent with the TdA gang.
That memo also lists Venezuelan immigrants being exploited into forced labor in “Northwest Virginia,” and the exploitation was allegedly connected to the TdA gang.
The memo states members of the gang live in D.C. It also states members of TdA are known to commit lower-level fraud and theft schemes and then send money back to South America.