Tren de Aragua, the Venezuelan migrant gang considered so dangerous by the US government that its members are now classified as terrorists, has been linked to a horrific case where a Washington woman was tortured with a power drill.
Two men charged with the victim’s kidnapping and attempted murder used the power drill on the woman’s hand to force her to turn over financial information, authorities in the Seattle area allege.
At least one of the men is a suspected member of Tren de Aragua, or TdA, according to KOMO-TV.
TdA’s confirmed presence in the Evergreen State means the Venezuelan criminal organization has now spread to at least 25 states – half of the country.
As the Daily Mail reported, law enforcement arrested suspected TdA members in Maine– 2,000 miles away from the southern border- earlier this month.
After crossing into the country through the US-Mexico in 2022 amid a historic wave of migration during the Biden years, TdA members spread to all corners of the US, unleashing a wave of crime in American cities.
TdA members have been accused of murder, rape, cop beatings and pimping out children in the US.
The Daily Mail became the first news organization in the US to report on the South American syndicate in October 2023- breaking the news that Venezuelans worst criminals were headed to a city near you.
Tren de Aragua’s confirmed presence in the Evergreen State means the Venezuelan criminal organization has now spread to at least 25 states – half of the country
The unnamed victim in Washington, 58, was ambushed by the men at a Burien apartment complex as she was returning home from work Jan. 21 around 10 p.m.
However, Kevin Daniel Sanabria Ojeda, 24, and Alexander Moises Arnaez-Gutierrez, 25, have just been charged last week in the crime.
At gunpoint, the woman was forced into another car by the men, prosecutors claim so they could get access to her purse, credit cards, jewelry and $20,000 worth of gold she was carrying.
‘They used a power drill to drill into (the victim’s) hand to get access to her cell phone and bank accounts,’ investigators from the King County Sheriff’s Office wrote in an arrest report.
‘They then threatened her by telling her they were going to kill her, kill her family, feed her to the bears and dump her body far away.’
The woman was then driven Kittitas County and left for dead on the side of I-90 highway.
‘They shot her on a mountain pass and left her for dead,’ the arrest report obtained by the TV station states.
‘(Victim)stated she ducked and was struck in the shoulder. (Victim) believes the suspect thought he had hit her in the head, so she yelled and played dead. Once the suspects left the area, (victim) climbed over what was later described as a jersey barrier and flagged down a passerby.’
The unidentified victim was kidnapped from the Park Des Moines Apartments in Burien, Washington
Two of the 19 individuals arrested during the Oct. 19 raid at the Palatia Apartments in San Antonio where authorities say Tren de Aragua had been operating
The woman waited until she was sure the men had drove off and was able to flag someone down to seek help.
Despite the crime happening in late January, the men were on the run for some time after.
With the help of the FBI, local cops tracked Sanabria down in Illinois the week after the kidnapping.
Investigator say he was driving a car that matched the car use to abduct the woman in Seattle.
The victim’s stolen jewelry was found inside the motel where Sanabria was staying after he was taken into custody.
‘Post Miranda (rights), Sanabria stated that he participated in the kidnapping, vehicle theft, robbery and killing of the «lady» known investigators as (victim),’ the arrest report states.
Arnaez-Gutierrez was on the run for months until he was finally taken in during a traffic stop by Mercer Island Police in Washington last week.
More than 200 Venezuelan men accused of having ties to TdA have been deported from the US to a supermax prison in El Salvador by President Donald Trump.
Trump has been able to deport accused members of TdA without having to prove their gang affiliation by invoking the Alien Enemies Act– a wartime law that suspends due process for Venezuelans.
The constitutionality of Trump’s use of the law is currently under review by US courts.
