Suspected Tren de Aragua Gang Members Arrested in $1M Texas Drug Bust



by Bob Price 12 Dec 2024Houston, TX

HOUSTON, Texas — Five men with alleged ties to the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua are under arrest after Texas state and local police found $1 million in drugs in a Houston apartment. In addition to the drugs, police seized 24 firearms.

Harris County Precinct 1 Constable Alan Rosen told reporters on Wednesday this is the largest drug bust in his department’s history. He said the five men were allegedly running a “drive-thru drug trafficking” operation in the apartment complex located in northwest Houston.



Department of Public Safety Lieutenant Craig Cummings said the five men have ties to the Tren de Aragua gang. Cummings told reporters the gang members “had a stronghold on an apartment complex in Houston.”

The drug trafficking operation was said to be serving up to 30 cars per hour, Rosen added.

Constable Rosen’s office contacted the DPS Anti-Gang Center in Houston for assistance in taking down the alleged drug trafficking ring. The U.S. Marshal Service and Houston Police Department also assisted in the year-long investigation.

In April 2017, Texas Governor Greg Abbott created the Texas Anti-Gang Task Force after Houston officials reported an increase in rape and murders being committed by violent gangs, including MS-13, Breitbart Texas reported.

The governor came back to Houston in September 2024 to announce his designation of the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization.

“The recent entry and expansion of the vicious Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, is a dangerous and deadly problem facing our state and nation,” Abbott explained. “Our top focus is the safety and security of all Texans.”

In an exclusive interview with Breitbart Texas, Abbott said, ““If you look at the historical analysis written about them (TdA), they’re in a business operation. what they’re going to find is, if they’re coming in the state of Texas, they’re losing money. It’s a losing money proposition in the state of Texas, and they’re going to realize they got to take their business elsewhere.”

KHOU reported that during the raid on the apartment complex in Houston, police seized:

  • 13 kilos of methamphetamine,
  • 7 kilos of cocaine,
  • 232 pounds of marijuana,
  • 1 kilo of MDMA
  • 40 grams of mushrooms,
  • 43 grams of black tar heroin, and
  • 24 firearms, including three that were stolen.

Police also found a large religious shrine in one of the apartments. Rosen said the shrine may have been intended to provide protection from law enforcement.

“I can’t imagine a family living in this complex and the amount of traffic coming through there and the amount of people that were addicted to drugs and the illegal activities that were going on there,” Rosen told reporters.

“I’m sure they saw it every day, their kids saw it every day and you know, we’re sick and tired of it.”

https://www.breitbart.com/border/202...xas-drug-bust/