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The operation was led by a federal task force comprising Homeland Security Investigations and the NYPD. The hideout was discovered through the tracking of a court-ordered monitoring device worn by a 28-year-old Venezuelan national, Jarwin Valero-Calderon, who was among those arrested.

According to The New York Post, the raid took place on December 5 in an apartment building on the edge of Crotona Park. The TdA gang, known for its violent activities, has been gaining a foothold in New York since 2022, following a wave of migrants seeking asylum in the US. The gang is reported to have recruited members from tax-funded migrant shelters and is involved in violent theft, robbery, and the trafficking of drugs, guns, and women across the five boroughs.

Former Denver ICE chief John Fabbricatore commented on the situation, stating, What were seeing is this evolution of Tren de Aragua, where theyve gone into these sanctuary cities. Theyve started to solidify themselves and then they throw tentacles out to multiple other locations where they think that they can continue to make money. I think people are finally starting to realize how bad the situation has gotten."

Most of the gang members arrested in the Bronx apartment were sought on multiple warrants after crossing the US border with Mexico and subsequently disappearing. Among them was Jhonaiker Alexander Gil Cardozo, 24, who had been arrested at least four times in two states since crossing the border in El Paso in September 2022. Cardozo had previously faced charges of grand larceny, stolen property, reckless endangerment, and robbery.

Another TdA member, Jesus Manuel Quintero Granado, 30, had crossed the border in El Paso in September 2022 with his Peruvian wife and child. After their asylum request was denied by Canadian authorities in September 2023, they were sent back to the US, where northern border agents released them pending an immigration hearing. Quintero Granado was subsequently arrested four times in New York and New Jersey for crimes including shoplifting, grand larceny, and possession of stolen property.

Also apprehended in the Bronx raid was Angel Gabriel Marquez Rodriguez, 19, who had crossed the border in September 2023 and was later arrested in Chicago on a shoplifting charge. Despite this, he was released and returned to New York City, where he was arrested on larceny charges twice more.

Fernandez Franco Greymer De Dios, 21, another migrant gang member arrested in the raid, was being processed for deportation after being caught at the border in May. However, after claiming fear of persecution, he was released pending a court date, only to disappear, resulting in a deportation order in absentia on November 20.

Valero-Calderon, whose ankle monitor led the feds to the gang, had managed to evade the law several times before the Bronx raid. Despite multiple arrests on larceny charges in New York and New Jersey, a conviction, and a deportation order, he remained at large until the December 5 raid.

All of the arrested migrants were identified by federal immigration sources as members of TdA. The gang and its underage offshoot, Diablos de la 42, or Devils of 42nd Street, have been on the NYPD radar for some time, particularly for a series of thefts in Times Square. Some of these young offenders, as young as 11, have exploited the states lenient criminal justice and juvenile detention laws to remain on the streets despite their troubling criminal records.

The recent raid underscores the escalating issue of gang violence within migrant communities, highlighting the need for more stringent immigration policies and effective law enforcement. It also raises questions about the efficacy of monitoring devices and the enforcement of deportation orders, as seen in the case of Valero-Calderon. As the situation continues to evolve, it is clear that more must be done to ensure the safety and security of communities affected by these criminal activities.