Alleged Tren de Aragua member among 5 arrested in human smuggling operation

A suspected member of the notorious Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang was among five people arrested during a human smuggling bust in Texas, authorities said Wednesday.

The three suspects accused of human smuggling have been “circumventing Border Patrol checkpoints” and using known human smuggling routes to bring up to 15 people per week into the U.S., Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar told reporters. He said two other individuals present during their arrests were accused of drug possession.

The three suspects charged with human smuggling were identified as 24-year-old Jose Francisco Barriento Vega of Mexico, 49-year-old Mary Lou Tula and 44-year-old Alexis Segundo Olivo Fernandez of Venezuela.

Vega is in the U.S. without documentation, Salazar said, while Tula is believed to be a U.S. citizen.

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Fernandez is suspected of belonging to TdA, Salazar said, noting that certain tattoos and his ties to alleged human smuggling led to the suspicions.

Two other men, identified as 25-year-old Brandon Suarez and 19-year-old Bryan Suarez, happened to be present at the scene of an arrest and were arrested for drug possession, the sheriff said. Both men are U.S. citizens.

Salazar said a sixth individual, whom he said he was unable to publicly name at this point, is suspected of being a member of TdA. The individual was not arrested at the time of the briefing, though Salazar said he believed border authorities were “taking possession” of the suspect.

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Salazar said the sheriff’s Human Exploitation Unit has worked with Laredo Sector Border Patrol to investigate the human smuggling group since launching operations in April. The sheriff noted the group has associations with criminal organizations responsible for upwards of $1 million of seized cash.