Venezuelan gangs operating in every major city in Tennessee, Bureau of Investigations warns

At a state budget hearing last month, the director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations, David Rausch, reported to Gov. Bill Lee that a violent Venezuelan prison gang, Tren de Aragua (TdA), is operating “in all of our major cities. They are running human trafficking operations, that’s where they start. We are now talking with our peers throughout the country that they have a pathway to more violence.”

In response, Gov. Bill Lee, an ardent supporter of border security efforts, issued a statement on X saying, “The border crisis is exactly why Americans voted for change. It’s not political – it’s about safety & security. TN will support @realdonaldtrump as he secures our border while delivering key resources for @TBInvestigation to stop illegal criminals from operating in our state.”

Tennessee has long partnered with Texas’ border security mission Operation Lone Star. Earlier this year, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared TdA a foreign terrorist organization and Texas Department of Public Safety began creating a database to identify TdA members, characterizations, and arrests. No such database currently exists at the local, state or federal level.

TdA members are known for violence, and have been accused of murder, kidnapping, extortion, bribery and human and drug trafficking, and linked to more than 100 law enforcement investigations nationwide, The Center Square has reported.

In Texas, they’ve been connected to ATM and bank thefts, car jackings, execution style murders and assault of women and children, The Center Square has reported. Texas law enforcement officers have arrested more than 3,000 Venezuelan illegal border crossers; more than 200 are wanted, Abbott said. Multiple agency arrests are occurring in major Texas cities involving kidnapping, murder, drug and human trafficking.

TdA crime has escalated nationwide after more than one million Venezuelans were reported illegally entering the country under the Biden administration, The Center Square exclusively reported.

Rausch has been sounding the alarm after TBI has been involved in operations involving TdA arrests over the past year.

Ahead of Thanksgiving, he announced a joint investigation involving the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, the Chattanooga Police Department, the state’s Human Trafficking Task Force and Homeland Security Investigations that resulted in the arrest of four men, including a TdA member. They were allegedly involved in a sex trafficking ring using a local hotel. The confirmed TdA member is also suspected of committing violent crimes in Chicago and New York City, TBI said.

When announcing the arrest, Chattanooga Police Chief John Chambers said, “I want to make sure it’s crystal clear that CPD does not have issues with our Latino community members in Chattanooga, CPD and its officers are focused on criminal activity not ethnicity.”

What makes TdA “different is they do move about,” Rausch said. “They remain transient until they get comfortable. If they get into an area where they feel like they are able to operate without impunity, then they will start to dig their heels in, as we have seen in some of the other communities. What we’re trying to do – and my purpose was, in introducing this information – was to ensure that all of policing in Tennessee understands we’re not going to let them get their foothold in Tennessee.”

In March, TBI announced that an investigation into a multinational criminal organization linked to human trafficking in Middle Tennessee led to the arrest of a second alleged trafficker in Murfreesboro. TBI worked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, Metro Nashville Police Department, and the United States Marshals Service to make the second arrest.

The investigation began last fall after TBI Human Trafficking Unit special agents uncovered a trafficking operation that allegedly lured women from Central and South America to the U.S. and forced them into commercial sex acts to pay off their debt to get to the U.S. One of the alleged traffickers was arrested last year.

Rausch’s warning prompted several local jurisdictions to release statements. The Metro Nashville Police Department said, “This police department is well aware of Tren de Aragua and the criminal activity associated with its members. We have a heightened awareness for any such activity seen here.”

The Knoxville Police Department and Knox County Sheriff’s Office said they hadn’t identified TdA members but were closely monitoring their jurisdictions. Putnam County Sheriff’s Office said there was no indication that TdA members were operating in the county.

The Memphis Police Department confirmed TdA activity. It said, “There have been two incidents in Memphis regarding Venezuelan gang activities. In 2023, officers located graffiti in the Appling Farms Station area. Additionally, on November 19th, 2024, ICE ERO arrested Luis Alejandro RUIZ-GODOY, who had outstanding warrants through INTERPOL. He was transported to Louisiana for deportation. Investigators with the Memphis Police Department have been and will remain in contact with our local, state, and federal partners concerning any new developments with Venezuelan gangs.”

Chattanooga Police Department said “there was no evidence to indicate that the gang is actively operating in our city.” Two weeks later, TBI and CPD announced the multi-operation arresting sex traffickers, including a TdA member.