Southwest
4 Tren de Aragua members arrested trying to sneak across Texas border: Abbott
Four confirmed members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) have been caught trying to sneak illegally into the U.S. via the southern border, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has announced.
The four TdA members were among 22 suspected illegal migrants who were apprehended on New Year’s Eve by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) working in Val Verde County.
“Our top priority is the safety and security of Texans, including against the growing threat of Tren de Aragua,” Abbott said in a statement.
Abbott, whose administration has been clamping down hard on the gang which has been terrorizing communities across the country, said the 22 migrants are from Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela. Eleven of the 22 were arrested for criminal trespass, while the remainder were family groups and were referred to Border Patrol for processing.
VENEZUELAN MIGRANT GANG TREN DE ARAGUA NOW OPERATING IN 16 STATES: REPORT
Tren de Aragua members arrested in Texas. (Fox News)
The four TdA members were among a group of nine Venezuelan nationals who claimed they were heading to San Antonio, Irving, and Corsicana, Texas. DPS special agents were able to verify their gang affiliation through social media apps on their phones, as well as their tattoos, Abbott said.
The individuals were identified as Segundo Ocando-Mejia, 39; Pedro Luis Salazar-Cuervo, 27; Antonio Joe Urruttia-Rojas, 18; and Levi Jesus Urrutia-Blanco, 18.
Ocando-Mejia had tattoos on his shoulders indicating he may hold rank or leadership within the gang, Abbott said.
Migrants surge through a hole in the razor wire in Texas in April. (David Peinado/ZUMA Press Wire)
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Abbott said he has designated TdA as a foreign terrorist organization, and in September, he launched a statewide operation to aggressively target TdA to disrupt their criminal operations. He directed DPS to elevate them to a Tier 1 gang and created a TdA Strike Team to identify and arrest TdA gang members.
Abbott said he would not tolerate the gang operating or gaining a foothold in Texas.
The gang has been engaged in all sorts of violent crime, including murders, shootings of police officers, assaults, robberies and gun smuggling into migrant shelters. A Homeland Security memo cited by the New York Post in November states it is operating in at least 16 states.
“Until President Trump is back in the White House to secure our border, Texas will continue to hunt down dangerous criminals like TdA and put them behind bars to protect Texans from this vicious gang,” Abbott said.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he will not let TdA gain a foothold in Texas. (Fox News Photo/Joshua Comins)
Abbott announced that his Public Safety Office is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the identification and arrest of known or suspected members of TdA gang members who have been or are involved in criminal activity.
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The news comes just days after 22 TdA gang members were arrested in two raids in New York City.
Several were busted hiding out in a Bronx apartment building located next to a daycare center, a law enforcement source tells Fox News, underlining how the gang has immersed itself among the general population in the sanctuary city.
Read the full article from Here
Tens of thousands of residents in the western Los Angeles area remain under mandatory evacuation orders Wednesday morning after a wind-driven wildfire exploded in size Tuesday and swept through communities in the Pacific Palisades.
The Palisades Fire was first reported around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday in the 1100 block of North Piedra Morada Drive. By evening, the fire had exploded to more than 2,900 acres with no containment and was expected to keep spreading amid hurricane-force Santa Ana winds.
The latest CalFire updates can be found here.
There was no initial estimate for the number of structures damaged or destroyed. However, news footage showed dozens of homes and other structures ablaze.
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Flames rise as the Palisades Fire advances on homes in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope) -
Will Adams watches as flames from the Palisades Fire close in on his property in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope) -
Water is dropped on the advancing Palisades Fire by helicopter in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope) -
Plumes of smoke are seen as a brush fire burns in Pacific Palisades, California on January 7, 2025. (Getty Images) -
Plumes of smoke are seen as a brush fire burns in Pacific Palisades as seen from Santa Monica, California on January 7, 2025. (Getty Images) -
View of the Palisades Fire from LAX on Jan. 7, 2025. (KTLA) -
A palm tree is seen burning during the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles on Jan. 7, 2025. (KTLA) -
An ALERTCalifornia camera view of a brush fire in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles County. Jan. 7, 2024. (ALERTCalifornia) -
A firefighter tries to extinguish a fire as it damages a property in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo) -
Firefighters work to extinguish flames engulfing a home as a brush fire rages in Pacific Palisades, California, on January 7, 2025. (Getty Images) -
A firefighter battles the Palisades Fire as it burns a structure in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope) -
A firefighter jumps over a fence while fighting the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Evacuations were ordered for the entire Palisades community down to the Pacific Ocean, according to CalFire. During a Tuesday afternoon press conference, officials said more than 10,000 homes in Pacific Palisades and Malibu were affected by the evacuation order. Evacuation warnings also extended into areas of Santa Monica and Calabasas.
An evacuation shelter for people and pets was established at the Westwood Recreation Center at 1350 S. Sepulveda Boulevard.
Dozens of Los Angeles County schools will be closed Wednesday due to the fire. A comprehensive list of closures can be found here.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Pacific Palisades is located about 10 miles from Malibu, where the Franklin Fire burned more than 4,000 acres and burned several homes after erupting during similar windy conditions in December.
Palisades Fire Resources: LAFD Alerts | CALFIRE Incident Page | LAFD on X
A Texas man with a long rap sheet has been arrested after police say he burst into a home and stabbed his 58-year-old mother after she refused to hand over her wallet to him.
Joseph Anthony Abreu, 35, allegedly kicked down the door of the Houston home at around 3:15 p.m. local time on Saturday and once inside, demanded his mother’s wallet.
When she didn’t comply, Abreu pushed her and stabbed her, Houston police say. The Farnsworth Street home is about six miles north of Downtown Houston. It is unclear if the home is his mother’s residence.
Joseph Anthony Abreu, 35, kicked down the door of a Houston home and stabbed his mother after she refused to give him her wallet, police say. (Houston Police Department )
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Abreu, a convicted felon, then fled the scene before police arrived, but was apprehended on Sunday.
The victim was transported to an area hospital in stable condition, police say.
Abreu has been charged with aggravated assault of a family member and burglary with intent to commit other felony.
Police say that Joseph Anthony Abreu fled the scene but was apprehended on Sunday (Houston Police Department)
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This is not Abreu’s first run-in with the law.
Fox 26 Houston reported that in 2015 Abreu was convicted of prostitution with three or more priors in Harris County.
In 2021, Abreu tried to purchase a gun from an Academy Sports and Outdoors, despite it being illegal under Texas law for a convicted felon to be in possession of a firearm.
Court documents say that Abreu provided his driver’s license when trying to purchase the gun, and when the clerk explained that the gun came with a six-round magazine and an eight-round magazine, Abreu told the clerk, “Man, that’s fine, I got eight rounds to kill eight people today,” Fox 26 reported.
Houston Police Department vehicles (Houston Police Department)
The clerk told Abreu that he was unable to sell him the gun because of his comments and the police were notified.
Abreu then took a plea deal and was sentenced to four years in the Texas Department of Corrections for attempted possession of a firearm by a felon.
He is being held in the Harris County Jail on a combined bond of $202,500 bond, the outlet reported. He is scheduled to appear in court later today.
Read the full article from Here
As the more than 2,900-acre Palisades Fire rages, a Southern California cultural touchstone – the Getty Villa along Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades – is threatened.
In a statement, President and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust Katherine E. Fleming said the villa was swiftly closed Tuesday morning to non-emergency staff and irrigation was deployed throughout the grounds.
Fleming added that extensive measures to clear brush from the surrounding areas had taken place earlier in the year as part of the villa’s fire mitigation efforts, though some trees and vegetation on the grounds have burned.
“Museum galleries and library archives were sealed off from smoke by state-of-the-art air handling systems,” the statement noted and added that the double-walled construction of the galleries provides significant protection to the priceless collections housed in the museum.
Villa officials extended their gratitude for the tireless efforts of first responders.
“We, of course, are very concerned for our neighbors in the Pacific Palisades, Malibu, and the surrounding areas,” the statement adds.
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Photos: Pacific Palisades Wildfire Engulfs Homes in an L.A. Neighborhood
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