EXCLUSIVE — A joint federal law enforcement operation across Washington, D.C., led to the arrests of 15 suspected Tren de Aragua and MS-13 gang members as part of an immigration enforcement operation aimed at getting the most dangerous illegal immigrants off the streets.
Alleged violent criminal offenders from two of the world’s most brutal gangs were arrested in a two-week operation that swept the Washington metropolitan region, U.S. Customs and Border Protection shared with the Washington Examiner.
“These arrests send a clear message: Under the Trump administration, gang members and criminals will find no sanctuary in our nation’s capital,” CBP Assistant Commissioner Hilton Beckham said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “We remain steadfast in our commitment to eradicating threats and restoring safety to our communities.”
The operation, in President Donald Trump’s backyard, comes 60 days into his second term as his administration seeks to carry out the “largest-ever” deportation operation in national history, starting with the most horrific criminal illegal immigrants in the country.
It also comes just days after the Department of Homeland Security flew other Tren de Aragua gang members out of the country to a mega-prison in El Salvador, just as a judge ordered they not be deported.
Law enforcement from the Border Patrol’s Special Operations Group, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s National Gang Unit, the FBI, and Homeland Security Investigations worked to make the 15 arrests across northern Virginia, Maryland, and Washington.
This specific effort focused on taking down networks that were connected to gang activity and foreign terrorism in the Washington region. Tren de Aragua specifically is in the business of facilitating human smuggling and drug trafficking by way of the southern border.
The 15 illegal immigrants arrested in the operation will face criminal or immigration proceedings or both.
CBP did not disclose if the 15 arrestees will be immediately removed from the country without due process under the Alien Enemies Act that Trump triggered last weekend in an effort to remove Tren de Aragua members swiftly.
That effort was stalled by Judge James Boasberg, chief judge of the district court in Washington, just as several deportation flights of Tren de Aragua members were in the air and headed to El Salvador.
BORDER PATROL CHIEF TOUTS ‘UNPRECEDENTED’ COOPERATION WITH MEXICO AND CANADA
Trump and some House Republicans want to impeach Boasberg, who they dubbed a “radical activist” district judge after he temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deporting Tren de Aragua members.
The transnational criminal group was formed in a Venezuelan prison before expanding into the United States. The gang took advantage of the Biden-era border crisis and was able to push members into the country and beef up its presence in cities nationwide.
