Law Firm: Venezuelan Gang Operating Within Colorado Apartments First Gained A ‘Stranglehold’ In 2023

An inmate handcuffed with a plastic cable tie remains in a cell

The Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang making headlines for taking over an Aurora, Colorado, apartment complex reportedly first gained a “stranglehold” late last year.

A Denver law firm, who wished to remain anonymous, was tasked with looking into the foreign criminal group’s activity in Aurora claims to have found evidence of the gang’s activity in the Whispering Pines Apartments towards the end of 2023, according to CBS News.

The report states that Tren de Aragua has been engaged in violent assaults, extortion, child sex trafficking, and death threats.

The findings were sent to Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman, City Manager Jason Batchelor, and the interim police chief.

“The evidence we have reviewed indicates that gang members are engaging in flagrant trespass violations, assaults and battery, human trafficking and sexual abuse of minors, unlawful firearms possession, extortion, and other criminal activities, often targeting vulnerable Venezuelan and other immigrant populations,” wrote T. Markus Funk, a former U.S. Attorney.

The complex property manager running Whispering Pines was interviewed by the firm, in which he stated: “He had never seen anything remotely like the Tren de Aragua takeover of Whispering Pines in his entire career.”

The manager also stated that the gang members were arrested after they threatened to “kill him” over a late rent payment. Additionally, the gang members have also reportedly been collecting “rent” from residents of the complex and one even stabbed a resident who had caught on to the con and refused to pay.

“Tren de Aragua has threatened to kill [and has allegedly attempted to kill] members of Whispering Pines management,” the report continued.

Additionally, the property manager reported that members of the gang offered him a compromising deal if he agreed to provide the gang with 50% of the rent money that he collected from residents.

The property manager began his job in January of 2024, and by that point, the gang was already active within the complex. The report added that in November of 2023, a consultant for the property management company had been “so severely beaten and stomped by gang members that he had to go to the hospital.”

“This is our business plan,” one Tren de Aragua member allegedly told a housekeeper. “If he [property manager] doesn’t like it, we’ll fill him with bullets.”

“This conduct’s brazen and public nature further exhibits the suspected gang members’ sense of comfort and control consistent with their taking over the property and not fearing the law enforcement of the property management,” the report added.

“The property manager further shared that TdA (the gang) now uses the formally vacant units to host ‘parties’” where they “serve drugs and child prostitution.”

An Aurora city spokesperson stated that they had received the report and “immediately included it in its ongoing investigative work.”

“The information and claims in the letter underscore why APD (and other law enforcement agencies) formed a special task force to investigate violent crime impacting migrants and other communities in the Denver metro area,” the city spokesperson wrote.

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