Venezuelan gang leads attack at border with makeshift weapons, aims to harm soldiers: Report

Tren de Aragua, the violent transnational crime syndicate that started as a Venezuelan prison gang, has ramped up its attacks at the U.S.-Mexico border as President-elect Donald Trump's Inauguration Day approaches, according to a leaked memo.

The memo from the Texas Department of Public Safety, obtained by the New York Post, revealed that a group of 20 TDA gang members attempted to break into the country at an El Paso border crossing last week. The suspects were reportedly armed with blades, tire irons, and broken liquor bottles, the news outlet stated.

'A terrorist ideology of destruction.'

Texas DPS said that it suspects the gang has planned similar future attacks. The memo reportedly stemmed from an anonymous informant who warned that TDA was plotting border invasions that "would continue every night" around 3 a.m.

The source claimed that the gang members intend to "cause harm" to the Texas National Guard soldiers stationed near the border, "especially when they are left alone with no agents."

"Gunfire has picked up big time" near the El Paso border, one Texas law enforcement source told the Post. Authorities have responded to the uptick in violence by deploying more pepper balls, the source noted.

Victor Avila, a former Department of Homeland Security agent, told the Post that the violence at the southern border has increased because TDA knows that the Trump administration will start going after them.

Trump and his incoming border czar, Tom Homan, have vowed to focus their mass deportation efforts on the removal of criminals and gang members.

Venezuela does not cooperate with the U.S. in accepting repatriation flights. However, Trump and Homan have indicated that they believe that will change under the new administration. Additionally, the Trump administration has reportedly already secured an arrangement with Guatemala to accept deported illegal aliens from other countries.

Avila warned that TDA has "teamed up" with Mexican cartels to facilitate smuggling operations.

"I think that TDA is coming in with an instruction from their home country. And I think that their ideology is more of a terrorist ideology of destruction," Avila explained. "They hate the United States just like terrorists do and they will kill, destroy, take over businesses, take over stores, and take over apartment complexes, do whatever they have to do to destroy our way of life in the U.S."

Alfonso Aguilar, the former chief of the U.S. Office of Citizenship, also stated that he believes members of TDA are trying to sneak into the country before the window closes.

"We're seeing criminal organizations, members of Tren de Aragua, trying to get to the southern border and doing everything they can to enter the country because they know as soon as the Trump administration starts, it's going to be almost impossible to enter the country and be released into the community as it has happened during these past four years," Aguilar said.

Texas DPS did not respond to a request for comment from the Post.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!