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The Texas Department of Public Safety, working with federal agencies on a joint investigation into a Venezuelan gang, arrested more than 40 people and seized drugs after serving a search warrant on an undisclosed Hays County residence, the state agency and the FBI announced Wednesday.
A DPS and FBI news release said the warrant was executed after FBI agents “developed intelligence” earlier this week about a gathering of individuals tied to Tren de Aragua, a gang that started in Venezuelan prisons and has become a target of state and federal officials. DPS did not elaborate on how the dozens of detained people may be linked to the gang.
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What you need to know about the Venezuelan gang that Texas is targeting
Gov. Greg Abbott has declared the Venezuelan gang a foreign terrorist organization and asked the Department of Public Safety to create a strike team targeting them.
President Donald Trump’s administration has targeted the criminal organization as part of its broader vow to deport millions of immigrants. But relatives of Venezuelans who have been detained and deported elsewhere in the country say they are not gang members.
It was not clear what potential crimes authorities believe the individuals had committed to be taken into custody. State and federal prosecutors plan to review evidence obtained during the execution of the search warrant to determine potential criminal charges, according to DPS and the FBI.
DPS, the FBI, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Hays County Sheriff’s Office, which participated in the operation, did not immediately return requests for comment Wednesday.
It was not immediately clear where the dozens of people taken into custody are being held.
The San Antonio Police Department helped with an investigation leading up to the operation, but not with the execution of the search warrant, a department spokesperson said, declining to comment further because it is “part of a larger ongoing case.” The DPS release said several local, state and local law enforcement agencies have been investigating members and associates of the gang for more than a year.
This is a developing story.
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