Suspected Tren de Aragua gang members arrested in police raid on San Antonio apartment complex: police

Texas law enforcement searched a vacant San Antonio apartment complex that had come under the “control” of the notorious Tren de Aragua gang, which used the building as a base for crimes, officials said.

A multi-agency task force cleared more than 300 vacant units at the Palatia Apartments on the city's north side Saturday morning, San Antonio Police Chief McManus told reporters at a news conference.

According to police, SAPD had received several complaints from the apartment complex about drugs, human trafficking and threats against apartment staff.

“We had information that members of the transnational gang Tren de Agua controlled the area and were committing various crimes,” McManus said.

Twenty people were arrested, four of whom were confirmed Tren de Agua members – including one person who was an “enforcer,” he said.

Nineteen of those arrested have been charged. Several of those arrested had confirmed arrest warrants, officials said.

The homes were searched by a joint team of officers from SAPD, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Homeland Security Investigations.

The arrests come after a weeks-long investigation as part of SAPD's Operation Aurora initiative, part of a broader effort to undermine Tren de Aragua's influence in Texas.

According to News4SA, authorities believe Tren de Aragua is involved in prostitution, cocaine sales and other violent crimes in San Antonio.

McManus said Saturday that the gang has been operating in the area for “several months.”

He said they have identifying tattoos and are known for wearing red.

“We assure the community and the public that we are committed to their safety, in addition to this TDA issue that seems to have become very public lately,” McManus said.

Saturday's raid was police's first raid on a known gang location, but the chief said: “We have other locations we will be targeting.”

“We’re on the trail,” he told the gang members. “We’re coming for you and we know where you are.”

More than 100 suspected members of Tren de Aragua (TdA) were among the group that violently stormed the border near El Paso, Texas, in March.

Since then, the gang has gained a foothold across the country, reportedly taking over homes in Colorado, seizing hotels near the Texas border in El Paso and shooting police officers in New York.

Tren de Agua is known nationwide for luring women into sex trafficking, forcing them to sell their bodies in American cities to pay exorbitant smuggling fees, according to a leaked law enforcement memo obtained by The Post last month .

In the Big Apple, Tren de Aragua attempts to recruit foot soldiers to force women into sex trafficking to fund gang activity.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott has declared the prison gang a foreign terrorist organization.