Only one Tren de Aragua member was arrested after raids on seven apartment complexes
White House border czar Tom Homan said Thursday he would deal with leakers believed to have tipped off Venezuelan gang members ahead of Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in Denver and neighboring Aurora.
“We’ve already identified how this operation got leaked. I’ll deal with that today,” Homan said Thursday.
ICE, along with other federal agencies, including the FBI and the DEA, raided seven apartment complexes in the Denver metro area early Wednesday morning. Denver’s ICE office reported that it was targeting over 100 members of the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua, but only one of the 30 people arrested was a confirmed member, according to Fox News.
“I do get the impression that there were some intel leaks here,” acting ICE director Caleb Vitello said. “And I think that probably they did know we were coming. But we’re still coming. And just because something leaks now and then, it’s not going to stop us.”
The raid was originally scheduled for Jan. 30, but it was delayed following leaks to local media outlets. Still, the apartments were largely empty when law enforcement arrived Wednesday, Fox News reported.
ICE agents were seen knocking on doors and loading apprehended detainees onto a bus. Anti-ICE activists also surrounded law enforcement, shouting insults and demanding they “get the fuck out of our neighborhood.”
The activists’ presence, ICE officials say, also offers evidence that the raid was compromised. Homan accused the activists of endangering law enforcement and vowed to explore every legal avenue to hold them accountable.
Among the apartments ICE raided was the Edge of Lowry in Aurora, which attracted national attention over accusations that it was under Tren de Aragua’s control—a claim Democrats and the media downplayed.
In August, video surfaced showing alleged gang members armed with long guns, knocking on residents’ doors, and entering their homes. President Donald Trump visited Aurora on the campaign trail and vowed to carry out deportations there.
In December, ICE detained 16 suspected Tren de Aragua members who were illegally in the United States. Local police arrested them after they allegedly stormed a Lowry apartment, kidnapped the residents, and tortured them in another unit in the complex.
At the city of Aurora’s request, a judge in January ordered the Lowry building to close following the alleged kidnapping and other violent crimes.
