Southwest
Violent Venezuelan prison gang infiltrating US, becoming more organized and brazen: 'MS-13 on steroids'
A violent prison gang called Tren de Aragua, which originated in Aragua, Venezuela, is infiltrating the United States, according to U.S. officials.
The Treasury Department in July sanctioned TDA as a transnational criminal organization, saying the gang participates in different kinds of crimes ranging from human trafficking to kidnapping to extortion, money laundering and illicit drug trafficking, posing a “deadly criminal threat across” the Western Hemisphere.
Republican Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales described TDA as “MS-13 on steroids,” saying members have been coming to the United States for several years now in a phone interview with Fox News Digital.
“They’re extremely aggressive. It’s not as if they’re a passive group or they want to quietly go about things,” Gonzales said. “They’re coming from Venezuela, one of the most war-torn countries over the last decade. So, they’re battle-hardened in many ways. And they’ve made this trek from there to here. But they are also becoming … more organized and more brazen.”
BLOODTHIRSTY VENEZUELAN GANG TREN DE ARAGUA SETS UP SHOP IN US AS BORDER AUTHORITIES SOUND ALARM
Peruvian police in October 2023 captured the alleged leader and 31 other members of a faction of Tren de Aragua, the Venezuelan-born criminal organization. (Cris Bouroncle/AFP via Getty Images)
Gonzales said because of their organization within the states, TDA members are becoming more difficult to track. They’re also difficult to deport because Venezuela is not accepting them back into the country.
Only 834 Venezuelans were deported in fiscal 2023, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) data, despite more than 335,000 encounters with Venezuelan migrants at the border that year.
The Biden administration started returning illegal immigrants from Venezuela directly to the socialist dictatorship in October 2023 to discourage the flow to the border.
VENEZUELAN GANG TREN DE ARAGUA GIVES ‘GREEN LIGHT’ TO MEMBERS TO ATTACK COPS: OFFICIALS
Venezuela stopped accepting those flights in January, though, after the U.S. reimposed economic sanctions it had previously lifted.
“They basically released these people and told them, ‘You’re getting a one-way trip to the United States,’” Gonzales said.
This compilation shows a suspected Tren de Aragua member and the southern border. (Fox News/Border Patrol)
In a recent example of such violence, TDA members were linked to a June 24 jewelry heist in Denver, Colorado, during which multiple suspects posing as clients suddenly pulled out guns and pistol-whipped two women inside the jewelry store, according to FOX 31 Denver.
BORDER STATE LAWMAKER SOUNDS ALARM ON BLOODTHIRSTY VENEZUELAN GANG ENTERING US: ‘THEY HAVE NO RULES’
The Albuquerque Police Department in New Mexico recently shared a bulletin from the Colorado Information Analysis Center with personnel in July warning law enforcement of reports that TDA members in Denver have been given a “‘green light’ to fire on or attack law enforcement.”
TDA members were linked to a June 24 jewelry heist in Denver, Colo., during which multiple suspects posing as clients suddenly pulled out guns and pistol-whipped two women inside the jewelry store, according to FOX 31 Denver. (HSI El Paso)
Laken Riley murder suspect Jose Ibarra’s brother, Diego Ibarra, also has ties to the gang, as Fox News previously reported. The Ibarras, along with a third brother, were living in the U.S. illegally after crossing into the country through Texas and eventually making their way to the college town of Athens, Georgia.
The gang has been linked to dozens of robberies in all five boroughs of New York City, and two TDA members were accused of attacking two NYPD officers in Times Square in January.
FBI FEARS VENEZUELA MIGRANT GANG MEMBERS COULD POTENTIALLY TEAM UP WITH MS-13 KILLERS
Images taken from federal court filings include Diego Ibarra’s alleged fake green card as well as photos prosecutors say are evidence of his suspected ties to the violent Tren de Aragua gang from Venezuela. (Middle District of Georgia)
“Lots of people are fleeing economic persecution, and they’re looking for an opportunity,” Gonzales said. “But embedded in those people are lots of [criminals] who want to cause you harm. And don’t think for a second that that harm won’t happen to you because of wherever you live, or because you’ve never even met someone from Venezuela before. Doesn’t matter.”
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) has a National Gang Unit that works with federal, state, local and international law enforcement partners to identify violent street gangs and arrest, prosecute, detain or remove transnational members, according to ICE. The agency also provides support to enhance gang investigations for HSI field offices across the nation and overseas.
“Homeland Security Investigations is committed to investigating, disrupting and dismantling transnational gangs and prioritizes work to combat emerging threats related to them,” an ICE spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “HSI is aware of recent violent crime and arrests involving individuals allegedly associated with the Tren de Aragua gang and continues to assess emerging trends and assist partner law enforcement agencies.”
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (Gaby Oraa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Illegal immigrants associated with gang activity in their home countries and identified during regular immigration enforcement duties are prioritized for arrest, detention and removal.
The FBI has warned that TDA members could team up with the more infamous MS-13 as it looks to expand within U.S. borders.
TDA “leverages its transnational networks to traffic people, especially migrant women and girls, across borders for sex trafficking and debt bondage,” the Treasury said in a July press release. “When victims seek to escape this exploitation, Tren de Aragua members often kill them and publicize their deaths as a threat to others.”
Anyone with information related to gang activity may submit anonymous reports to ICE by calling the HSI tip-line at 877-4-HSI-TIP.
Fox News’ Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
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Southwest
Missing 19-year-old Camila Mendoza Olmos believed to be ‘in imminent danger,’ Texas sheriff says
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Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar indicated that authorities believe that Camila Mendoza Olmos, a 19-year-old woman who went missing on Christmas Eve, is “in imminent danger.”
The FBI is supplying technical aid and the Homeland Security Department is keeping an eye on border crossings as well as international travel, Salazar indicated, according to ABC News.
“We definitely don’t want to miss anything,” he said, according to the outlet. “The ground search is somewhat limited to a couple of square miles. We’re also not ruling out that this case may take us outside the borders of the continental United States.”
TEXAS 19-YEAR-OLD CAMILA MENDOZA OLMOS VANISHES OUTSIDE HER HOME ON CHRISTMAS EVE
Camila Mendoza Olmos, 19, was last seen outside her home in San Antonio, Texas, on Christmas Eve, authorities said. (Bexar County Sheriff’s Office)
The sheriff confirmed to ABC that the young woman had not been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which he verified despite Olmos being an American citizen.
“That was a personal concern. So, I had it checked to make sure that there were no stops, no detentions, and that she’s not somewhere in a federal detention facility. That is something we needed to check,” Salazar noted, according to the outlet.
Fox News Digital reached out to the sheriff’s office for comment.
TEXAS FATHER RESCUES KIDNAPPED DAUGHTER BY TRACING HER PHONE’S LOCATION, SHERIFF’S OFFICE SAYS
Camila Mendoza Olmos was last seen around 6:58 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025, in northwest Bexar County, Texas. (Bexar County Sheriff’s Office)
A December 24 Bexar County Sheriff’s Office Facebook post noted, “Camila was last seen leaving her residence at approximately 6:58 a.m. on Wednesday, December 24, 2025. Video footage from that time shows an unknown individual, believed to be Camila, searching inside her vehicle for an unidentified item. Moments later, the footage ends. It is believed that she left the residence on foot, as her vehicle remained at the location.”
The post notes, “The only items known to be on her person are her car key and possibly her driver’s license. Camila’s mother stated that Camila normally goes for a morning walk; however, she became concerned when Camila did not return within a reasonable period of time.”
NONPROFIT USES UNDERWATER TECHNOLOGY TO SEARCH FOR MISSING SERVICE MEMBERS
The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office said, “It is believed that she left the residence on foot, as her vehicle remained at the location.” (Google Maps)
The sheriff’s office indicated in the post that she had been “Last seen wearing: Baby blue with Black Hoodie, Baby blue Pajama bottoms, White shoes.”
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Southwest
DAVID MARCUS: At AmericaFest, two legacies hang in the balance, Charlie Kirk’s and Donald Trump’s
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There are two legacies hanging in the balance this weekend in Phoenix as Turning Point USA puts on its annual AmericaFest conference, first is its late founder, Charlie Kirk’s and the other is President Donald Trump’s.
At the convention center here in Arizona, as many as 25,000 attendees are expected to gather to celebrate the life of Kirk, who was tragically murdered just months ago, but also to try to chart a course forward for the movement he marshaled.
Arriving a bit late on Thursday, I was greeted by Lucas, a TPUSA employee from Detroit in his mid-twenties. He was a picture-perfect ambassador, a clean-cut kid who is eschewing his generation’s almost epic bout of despair and instead leaning in to create positive change.
TPUSA SPOKESMAN SHREDS PODCASTER’S ‘DISTURBING’ DEFENSE OF PROTESTER WHO CELEBRATED CHARLIE KIRK’S DEATH
“The energy has been amazing,” he told me, referring to the huge upswing in interest in TPUSA since Kirk’s horrible murder.
“Not the way you’d want it to happen,” I somewhat darkly noted, but Lucas said, “You have to find the silver lining, I guess.”
Lucas and the hundreds like him are honestly an inspiration, while so many of their generation are out of shape from toe to top, they see a bright future for America that so many of us in advanced years have long ago forgotten.
But do not get the impression that at AmFest this year all is hugs and kumbaya. Iin fact, what you will find here are the early stages of a war to define what Donald Trump’s legacy, and the legacy of his MAGA movement will be.
PASTOR GREG LAURIE LAUNCHES CRUSADE AT CAMPUS WHERE CHARLIE KIRK WAS KILLED, WANTS TO BRING HOPE FROM TRAGEDY
Thursday night’s lineup on the big stage was a potent mix, featuring both Ben Shapiro of the Daily Wire and Tucker Carlson, whose current feud over Israel has become a bit more than nasty.
I won’t litigate the feud here, it’s all on video after all, but the broader point is that some lines are being drawn ahead of the first presidential race in a while, in 2028, that presumably will not include the name Trump on the ballot.
‘PEOPLE WERE LISTENING’: PROSECUTOR SAYS CHARLIE KIRK WAS TARGETED FOR HIS INFLUENCE
At Amfest, we finally have more than tea leaves to tell us what the conservative movement after Trump and Kirk will look like — we have the actual tea, and a few stains to boot.
The factions are becoming clear, Charlie Kirk’s widow Erika, in her speech Thursday enthusiastically endorsed Vice President JD Vance for president, while Shapiro said, more moderately, that Vance would have to build his own coalition.
Is Shapiro lining up a movement behind a potential candidate like Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz who has not been a member of Donald Trump’s, let’s face it, somewhat obsequious court of the Oval Office, and if so, can Erika Kirk’s power thwart such a play?
This weekend in Phoenix has assembled the people with the strongest claim to the MAGA movement — a once disparate band of misfits whose allegiance to the “orange man” who kept winning put them at the forefront of American power and politics.
Many of the grave and profound conservative voices and pundits of old, who give no truck to the New Right have fled ship for think tanks or psuedo-right-wing journals that exist only to destroy Trump and his movement, but they are not the vanguard. The real fight is here.
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What plays out over this weekend in Phoenix will have profound implications not just for next year’s midterms, but for the presidential race in 2028.
President Donald Trump shakes hands with Charlie Kirk, founder and executive director of Turning Point USA, during a panel discussion at the Generation Next Summit at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on March 22, 2018, in Washington. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Legacies are matters of the future, and it is only the young attendees at Amfest who will see the longest lasting fruits of the American conservative movement — a movement still firmly shaped by Charlie Kirk.
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It is both remarkable and stark to see the myriad and often giant images of their Charlie around the convention center amid his earthly absence. Each image is a reminder both of his life’s great success and its tragic end.
But Charlie Kirk’s legacy will not be a statue, or a plaque. His legacy will live in the hearts of the young kids assembled in Phoenix this weekend. Maybe they are naïve. Maybe they are not withered and weathered by life’s brutal storms. God bless them for their hope. We could use a bit more of it.
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Southwest
Two riders trapped more than 100 feet in air after Texas roller coaster malfunctions
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Two theme parkgoers were trapped more than 100 feet in the air for more than 30 minutes this week after a roller coaster in Texas malfunctioned.
The Circuit Breaker roller coaster at the Circuit of the Americas near Austin unexpectedly stopped at the first drop, leaving Matthew Cantu, 24, and Nicholas Sanchez, 20, dangling at a 90-degree angle Wednesday night, KXAN-TV reported, citing a publicist representing the two men.
“For more than 30 minutes after the ride stopped, family members reported receiving no clear updates, while witnesses said staff provided conflicting explanations, including comments that the riders ‘weren’t strapped in currently,’” the publicist’s news release said, People magazine reported.
UNIVERSAL ORLANDO THEME PARK COASTER DEATH RULED ACCIDENTAL
Construction continues on the Circuit Breaker, the first tilt roller coaster in Texas. (Jay Janner/The Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images)
“A sensor triggered a ride delay,” the Circuit of the Americas told Fox News Digital in a statement Saturday. “It was resolved, and the ride proceeded without incident.
“As with all amusement attractions of this sort, delays occasionally occur. We regret the inconvenience and are glad that out of the 25,000 people that have ridden the coaster, only two have this badge of courage.”
The Circuit Breaker is Texas’ first “tilt” roller coaster, which means the track tilts 90 degrees for a nearly vertical drop during the ride.
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The ride opened as a preview in October and will officially open next year, according to KVUE-TV.
Austin-Travis County EMS responded to the incident before 10 p.m. Wednesday, evaluating one of the men who refused medical attention, KVUE reported.
Cedar Point in Ohio opened its new Siren’s Curse roller coaster this summer. (Akron Beacon Journal/Imagn)
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Austin-Travis County EMS for comment.
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Another tilt roller coaster, known as the Siren’s Curse at Cedar Point in Ohio, has similarly malfunctioned multiple times since it opened this summer.
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